tool name

Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009

Atwater football defense 'stands' tall

STOCKTON -- Within seconds of taking the handoff, Theo Wofford knew he was in trouble.

The Stagg running back had been his team's only real offensive threat and on fourth-and-4 from the Atwater 8-yard line, the Atwater defense only had eyes for Wofford.

The senior looked for a hole up the middle and was instantly surrounded by Atwater defenders, getting dropped for a 2-yard loss as Stagg was turned away inside the Atwater 10 for the third and final time in a tremendous second-half effort on Friday night.

Nathan Sanchez came on take a knee and Atwater celebrated its first playoff victory since 2000, 18-13 in a Sac-Joaquin Section Division II first-round game at Chavez High.

Atwater will travel to Rocklin next week. Rocklin defeated Elk Grove.

"Theo is a heck of an athlete. He gave us trouble all night," Atwater coach Bob Valladao said. "But we thought if we kept being physical and gang tackling, he'd get tired and the ball would get lower and lower.

"We found ourselves in some tough positions and the kids just kept fighting and finding a way out of them."

The Atwater offense was outgained 358-214, but when it did get scoring chances it took advantage.

Stagg (8-3) couldn't say the same.

Staked to a 13-13 lead at the half on a pair of Wofford touchdowns, Ryan Wood gave Stagg a first-and-goal at the Atwater 3-yard line with a 33-yard reception about midway through the third quarter.

Three plays later, Stagg was still at the 3 and quarterback Aaron Raya was forced out of the pocket on fourth down. Just as Raya looked to be in real trouble, Wofford slipped out into the left flat without an Atwater defender within 15 yards. The sure touchdown went right through Wofford's hands and Atwater (8-3) took over on downs.

The momentum swing was huge as Atwater's offense finally found a rhythm. Sanchez and company marched 97 yards with a 16-play, 7-minute drive. Armando Garcia and Angel Molina did the heavy lifting with some power running. Garcia punched in a 1-yard touchdown run to give Atwater an 18-13 lead.

"We were struggling a bit on offense," said Garcia, who had a season-high 70 yards on 14 carries. "The defensive stop gave us some energy and we were able to take it right at them."

Wofford (25 carries for 195 yards) and Stagg didn't go quietly.

Stagg needed just six plays to earn a first-and-goal at the Atwater 10. Wofford appeared poised to atone for his earlier mistake when he found a big hole on a draw play. Wofford powered through an arm tackle, side-stepped another and was 3 yards from paydirt when linebacker Andrew Morgan made a desperation swipe from behind.

Morgan stripped the ball and it went out the back of the end zone for an Atwater touchback.

"I just wanted to force him back to the inside, and when he ran by I saw the ball hanging out there," said Morgan, who also had a 32-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter. "I swung and got ball. It was pretty exciting."