Giants dealt overtime loss to Foothill in Pepsi Sequoia Bowl

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

An otherwise successful season came to a frustrating and shocking end for College of the Sequoias' football team.

The Giants allowed a fourth-down touchdown for the second time in the game, and followed that with a penalty that gave Foothill a second shot at a two-point conversion, which the Owls converted to pull out a 29-28 overtime victory during the Pepsi Sequoia Bowl on Nov. 22 at Sequoias Stadium.

Sequoias, which was ranked No. 16 in the JC Athletic Bureau state coaches' pool, finished with a 7-4 record. It's the program's most wins in a season since 2006.

"It was a tough one," second-season Giants coach Matt Mendonca said. "I thought our kids played hard, but ultimately we made too many mistakes. It's kind of been the story of all of our losses this year. We can't seem to play disciplined football and sustain that for an entire game."

 After allowing John Larios to connect with Brody Simison for a 10-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-9 play during Foothill's first possession of overtime, the Giants appeared to have the game won when Jase Hudson dropped Larios for a loss on the ensuing two-point attempt.

But as teammates swarmed Husdon in celebration, a Sequoias defender was flagged for holding, giving the Owls a second two-point attempt from the 1-yard line. Jordan Fuentes plowed through the center of the line, lifting No. 20 Foothill (6-5).

Mendonca said he didn't believe the play warranted a penalty.

"You don't want the refs to throw a flag on a perimeter play to win the game in the back of the goalline, when we make the play," Mendonca said. "But it is what it is. It got called and we have to live with the outcome. We had multiple opportunities to win that game and we didn't."

The Owls won the coin toss after the end of regulation and elected to have the Giants take possession first in overtime.

Foothill stuffed Sequoias' first three plays of overtime, forcing a fourth-and-11 play from the 26-yard line. But Gage Armbruster (Corcoran High) extended the drive with a 25-yard reception from Payton Faker (Burien, Wash.) down to the 1.

A delay-of-game penalty cost the Giants 5 yards, but Faker took a quarterback keeper 6 yards for a touchdown. Matt Garza (Golden West) converted the extra point to put Sequoias up 28-21.

The Giants defense came up with two sacks on Foothill's overtime possession, the first by Gavin Silene (Gilbert, Ariz.) and the second a strip sack by Mark Pullman (Santa Maria) that Sequoias was unable to recover, but they couldn't keep the Owls out of the end zone.

Sequoias had a chance to win in regulation, driving 46 yards in 12 plays -- including a fourth down conversion on a pass from Faker to Armbruster -- to reach the Foothill 27-yard line with less than a minute left.

After three straight incomplete passes, the Giants faced a fourth-and 10 play. Mendonca elected to pass on a potential go-ahead 44-yard field goal attempt because Garza's range was limited by a hamstring injury. A fourth down pass fell incomplete with 5 seconds left and Foothill ran out the remaining clock.

Garza wasn't able to kick in practice in the week leading up to the game. Punter Cael Alkire (Strathmore) handled kickoff duties.

Sequoias scored first and never trailed until the final play of the game.

After forcing a three-and-out on Foothill's first possession and getting a 15-yard punt return from Marshel Sanders (Clovis West), the Giants went 36 yards in six plays, punctuated by a 1-yard scoring run by Mookie Gosby (Kent, Wash.) to go up 7-0 with 10 minutes and 38 seconds to play in the first quarter.

The Owls tied the score in the second quarter on a 12-yard run by Anthony Alonzo.

Sequoias retook the lead with 7:40 to play in the third quarter on a 21-yard strike from Faker to Sanders.

Foothill pulled back into a tie when Larios connected with Simison for a 26-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-11 play with 1:27 left in the second quarter.

The Giants went ahead 21-14 with 11:22 remaining in the third quarter on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Faker to Armbruster, but the Owls responded with Larios' 8-yard scoring pass to Owen Harrington to tie the score 21-21 with 6:19 left in the fourth quarter.

"We had multiple opportunities throughout that game to just kind of pull away or finish it," Mendonca said. "But you can't let teams hang around and give them multiple opportunities."

Sequoias was seeking its first eight-win season since 2006 and its first win in a home bowl game since 1991.

"I think a win today really would have propelled us into that next category in terms of what we've been able to do here at COS," Mendonca said. "Playing for eight wins was a goal of ours because we hadn't done that in 20 years. Winning a playoff game in front of our home fans hasn't happened since 1991. When you feel like the game is over and then you get those situations where it's a penalty, it really just deflates your team and trying to get out there and finish it the right way."

Faker capped a record-setting freshman season by completing 24 of 46 passes for 282 yards. He finished with school single-season records for passing attempts (472), completions (290) and passing yards (3,493). His 30 touchdown passes were second-best in a single season in program history.

Armbruster also left his mark on the school record books after catching seven passes for 101 yards. The sophomore finished with 111 career catches for 1,850 yards, both second in school history behind Tommy Jones (113 catches for 2,457 yards from 1990-1991).

Sanders caught eight passes for 111 yards, extending his single-season school record to 70 receptions. His 929 receiving yards on the season are fourth-best in school history.

Defensively, Pullman led the Giants with nine tackles, including 2.5 sacks. Josiah Harris (Denver) also had nine tackles.

Silene finished with eight tackles, including a sack and another tackle for loss, Pana Tututala (Federal Way, Wash.) had seven tackles, Christian Markum (Jacksonville, Fla.) had five tackles and two sacks, and Josiah Paaga (West Seattle, Wash.) had an interception.

Sequoias was a combined 12 points away from an undefeated season. The Giants lost to San Francisco (24-21), Fresno City (23-21) and Foothill despite holding leads against all three in the fourth quarter. They had a chance to take the lead late in the fourth quarter of a 33-27 loss to Modesto before a fumble deep in Pirates territory.

San Francisco, Fresno City and Modesto all participated in the NorCal Regional playoffs, with Fresno and Modesto reaching the semifinals.

Sequoias played in a postseason bowl for the sixth straight championship season, the longest streak in school history.

The Giants potentially could return as many as 49 players next season, including Faker, who was the Valley Conference's Offensive Player of the Year and all-conference selections in linebacker Silene, defensive back Cassidy Bolong-Banks (Tacoma, Wash.), and offensive linemen Chad Haughton (Bronx, N.Y.) and Izear Dampier (Seattle).

"We have some pieces here," Mendonca said. "I know we have the support and infrastructure here. Now we just have to continue to build some continuity with this thing, make sure we stack recruiting cycles with good players, and hope these 12 points that cost us this year will be 12 points in our favor going forward and we can compete at the state level.

"It starts with the right people. We have great admin here. We have some phenomenal coaches here. And we're going to continue to recruit the right types of players here, because not everybody can be a Giant. So continuing to make sure we recruit the right type of kids to get us over that hump is really going to be the key to this offseason. Making sure we can play our brand of football and be able to be on the other end of these close games that have cost us this season."