Bulldogs outlast Wolves

LIVINGSTON -- As soon as Zach Moreno heard the play call, the Le Grand senior knew he had to make a play.

Moreno sprinted down field and snagged an Alex Bucio pass away from a Livingston defender and raced 47 yards for a touchdown to break a 36-all tie with Livingston with 1 minute and 3 seconds left.

The Le Grand defense forced Livingston to turn the ball over on downs on the Wolves' last possession and the Bulldogs celebrated a 42-36 win on Friday night.

"That last play was a play we put in this week at practice," said Moreno, who caught seven passes for 136 yards and three touchdowns. "When our coach called the play he told me not to get caught up in the wash. I broke outside and I knew I had to do something. Time was winding down and Bucio put the ball exactly where he needed to put it."

The win avenged a last-second loss to the Wolves last season.

The 2,000 fans who showed up for the rematch were treated to another high-scoring nail-biter.

"Never leave a Le Grand-Livingston game early," Wolves coach Chris Lacey said while walking up the sideline after watching Diego Iniguez-Casian score on a 65-yard touchdown run to cut Le Grand's lead to 30-28 with 6:45 left in the game.

Both teams exchanged haymakers throughout the night, from the first play of the game that saw Livingston running back Brian Perez explode for an 80-yard touchdown run.

Bucio threw two of his five touchdown passes in the first half to help the Bulldogs (2-0) take a 20-13 lead into the half.

Livingston quarterback Gabe Deol scored on a 9-yard touchdown run to help the Wolves (2-1) tie the game at 20-20 in the third quarter.

The two teams lit up the scoreboard in the fourth quarter.

Le Grand turned to its ground game, as Bucio kept feeding the ball to tailback Daniel Guizar. The senior carried the ball 21 times in the second half alone and finished with 238 yards on 32 carries.

"We liked the blocking scheme we had going," said Le Grand coach Rick Martinez. "What can you say about Daniel Guizar? He was tearing off huge chunks. He was a warrior tonight going both ways."

Bucio connected with Moreno on a 14-yard touchdown pass to open up a 30-20 lead with 7:08 left in the game. Bucio completed 13 of 20 passes for 209 yards. His last three passes went for touchdowns.

Livingston stormed back as Iniguez-Casian's long run cut the lead to 30-28.

The Wolves answered another Le Grand score with a 1-yard touchdown run by Adrian Muniz. Muniz scored on a two-point conversion to tie the game at 36-36 with 1:42 left.

That set up Moreno's game-winning score and a large Bulldog celebration.

"Last year was a hard loss," Guizar said. "This feels great."