PREP FOOTBALL 2016: Penalty nullifies Mustangs’ game-winning play

An apparent game-winning two-point pass completion from quarterback Will Davis to Trenton Starrett was ruled illegal by the line judge in the final seconds as St. Vincent suffered a heartbreaking 28-27 loss to Willits in an exciting homecoming game Saturday afternoon.

With time running out, a Davis to Starrett combination produced some last second heroics with a 16-yard touchdown completion that set up the final conversion try. An unsportsmanlike penalty moved the ball back to the 18-yard line which made matters even more demanding for the Mustangs.

It was a no-doubt two-point try decision made by Mustang coach Gary Galloway and his staff, facing a possible tiebreaker if they booted a game-tying one-point PAT. The Wolverines had moved the ball consistently on the ground throughout the entire ball game.

Davis swung out to his right side, and angled toward the corner of the end zone before flipping a short toss to Starrett and for an exiting moment it appeared that St. Vincent had pulled out a come-from-behind victory. The celebration quickly turned to disappointment on with a belated loss-of-down penalty for crossing over the line of scrimmage flagged on Davis.

The sophomore quarterback had a 7-for-17, 147-yard passing game with three touchdowns. Two of the scoring passes went to Starrett, and Davis tacked on a 50-yard completion to older brother, Mike Davis, in the second quarter as the Mustangs left the field at intermission leading 21-14.

A wild toss out of bounds preceded the long touchdown as Mike Davis clearly was able to take advantage of the individual coverage on the left side of the playing field. That was corrected on the very next play from scrimmage.

Mike Davis finished the game with three catches for 71 yards as he eclipsed the 500-yard receiving total at the mid-point of the season. Starrett added three grabs for 63 yards. including a pair of touchdowns.

On defense, the Mustangs could not contain the constant battering of the tight double wing offense played by the Wolverines. Willits did not punt on the afternoon, and opted to pass in the few long distance situations that they faced. Only once did it cost them big time when the Mustangs converted a short field into a 15-yard touchdown scamper by Will Davis.

Willits offensive attack consisted of a tight shoulder-to-shoulder blocking scheme that produced consistent big gainers against the Mustang forward wall. St. Vincent did accumulate big numbers in tackles from linebackers Bryan Giron and Nick Murphy who were in on almost every play in the center of the field.

Giron was in on an astounding 30 tackles, including 14 individual stops. Murphy contributed 23 stops. The two combined to stop junior running back Justin Martin to halt a long drive at the Mustang 3-yard line in the second half.

The major problem for the Mustangs was that the tackling came mostly too deep past the line of scrimmage after the Wolverines had racked up substantial yardage. Overall, Willits rolled up 408 yards on 77 running plays while forcing critical minutes off the game clock.

Martin finished with a game-high 162 yards rushing as the visiting Wolverines improved to 1-5 with their first victory of the season.

Tony Garcia-Bedoya gave the Mustangs a shot in the arm in field position with several high unreturnable punts, and a couple of booming kickoffs into the Willits end zone.

The Willits junior varsity broke open a tight game in the second half by scoring 21 unanswered points in a 34-10 victory.

Senior Sarah Calabrese was chosen homecoming queen at a crisply orchestrated halftime ceremony at midfield. Her selection, announced by opening the box with the red rose, was warmly received by the crowd at Yarbrough Field.