For the 2nd time in the last 3 years the Campolindo Cougars failed to score in their home opener.
On Friday 9/1, in front of an energetic cougar crowd at Bob Wilson Stadium, Campolindo’s football team fell short, taking a 6-0 loss to Amador Valley High School.
Campolindo had all the momentum going into this match up, as they were coming off a double overtime comeback win against a highly touted Vanden team. Amador Valley on the other hand, had just suffered a tough loss at home against El Cerrito High.
Even so, Campolindo knew this would be no easy matchup, as Amador is also a Division 1 school.
From the jump, Campolindo failed to get anything going on the ground, as Campolindo running backs struggled to find the hole, leading to little gain.
Now all the pressure was on Campolindo’s starting quarterback, junior Max Robeson, along with the wide receivers to start making plays in the passing game.
For the first two sets of the game, Robeson and the receivers did just that, slicing up Amador’s defense.
That early success for Robeson vanished after Amador decided to switch their defense into a different zone coverage, and after a sack and 2 incompletions, the cougars were forced to punt from around the 50 yard line.
Once Amador got the ball, they immediately tried to use their size advantage along with their great running back to establish their run game. Even with Campolindo almost selling out to the run, Amador’s gameplan didn’t budge, as Amador only threw 8 passes the rest of the game.
Luckily, Campolindo’s defense came up clutch, forcing a fumble after a 15 yard gain from Amador’s running back, giving the cougars a chance to get some much needed momentum.
Robeson and Campolindo offense continued to struggle against Amador’s cover 2 defense for the rest of the half, only gaining 70 yards in the first 2 quarters.
Amador stayed persistent with their rushing attack and after a 7 minute 67 yard drive, they scored their 1st touchdown on a QB sneak.
Luckily for Campolindo, Amador’s kicker ended up missing the extra point, putting the score at 6-0 Amador with 5:56 minutes left in the 2nd quarter.
The game was practically at a standstill for the rest of the half, as both teams’ defenses thrived and the offenses couldn’t put together good sets.
Campolindo now clearly needed a change somewhere to ignite the offense, so they put in senior Isiah Ortiz as quarterback. Ortiz found success early, making progressions and finding his wide receivers in the flats for multiple 1st downs.
Unfortunately, this positive momentum on offense came to a halt when wide receiver, junior Joe Revelos fumbled after a completion for about 15 yards, giving Amador the ball at their own 44 yard line.
Campolindo’s defense continued to make plays as they forced a fumble on Amador’s 1st play of the drive, giving Campos offense good field position once again.
Once again, Campolindo’s offense could not make the best of the opportunity they were given, punting once more after 3 plays.
For the rest of the game, Campolindo’s defense thrived, stopping Amador’s rushing attack each drive and shutting them out in the 2nd half.
“Macy really focused on loading the box, and their pass game wasn’t really much of a threat,” said defensive end sophomore Crosby Kelly. “We played them and saw how they played us, we didn’t really respect their past game and we rovered up one of our safeties (James Giordani) and so that allowed me to not have to worry about outside containment, and just rush in,” Kelly continued.
On the other side of the ball, the Cougars failed to make big plays.
First on Amador’s 9 yard line with 10 minutes left, Revelos tripped and fell before finishing his intended route, allowing for an easy Amador interception in the back of the endzone.
Then after a huge defensive stop, the cougars offense had one final shot to win this game, as a touchdown would secure them the win. Sadly on the 1st play of the drive, with 2:36 minutes left in the 4th quarter, Ortiz threw a contested jump ball for wide receiver, senior Scott Lyon on the right sideline. Lyon ended up not being able to hold on, as it bounced off his hands, then his back, and landed right into the fallen defensive end’s lap.
This interception secured Amador Valley the win, improving their record to 1-1.
Campolindo hopes to bounce back against Windsor Friday 9/8 by establishing the run game and continuing to play high level defense.(Campolindo ended up tying Windsor 14-14.)
“We’re gonna run the ball much more this game,” said offensive lineman, senior Nick Walker. “We’re also going to tighten our defense and tighten our skill positions and make sure that all those issues that we had during Amador, we’re gonna make sure that those are flushed out for good.”
