Le Grand’s title run snapped by Hughson

Quarterback Walter Fountain of Hughson rolled right and fired a pass behind intended target Devondre Stendardo on third and 13 in the second quarter.

The senior wideout let his right arm drag behind him and somehow corralled the ball with one hand for a 23-yard gain.

It was that kind of evening for Le Grand. The big plays that the Bulldogs produced so regularly while winning four consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI championships and playing in five straight title games all happened for the other sideline on Friday night. Le Grand failed to get Hughson off the field when it had the opportunity and failed to execute when they had a chance to extend their own drives in a 41-0 rout by the Huskies in the first round of the Division V playoffs.

No. 4 Hughson will take on top-seeded Bear River in the semifinals.

“It’s tough, because those are the plays we are so used to making against other teams,” Bulldogs coach Raul Alvarez said. “It just seemed like every time we had a chance to grab some momentum, they made a play. And giving up third and longs or missing on a scoring opportunity just deflates you.

“That’s a good football team over there, and making those kind of mistakes in the playoffs is going to cost you.”

Le Grand (7-4) knew it was in for a challenge, stepping up to Division V and taking on a Hughson team with a 275-student advantage. What Alvarez and company didn’t expect was getting dominated in the opening half.

Fountain (11 of 13, 171 yards) and running back Richard Herrera (22 carries, 241 yards, three touchdowns) accounted for 313 first-half yards by themselves. Herrera found pay dirt twice, and Fountain hit Stendardo (six catches, 109 yards) with a 13-yard touchdown pass at the end of the second quarter to send the Huskies (8-3) into intermission with a 27-0 lead.

LG had no answer offensively, racking up just 48 total yards, 35 of which came on the first two plays, in the opening half.

Things went a little better for Alvarez’s squad after some halftime adjustments. Behind the powerful running of Carlos Iniguez (20 carries, 113 yards), the Bulldogs dominated the third quarter statistically.

Scoring proved tougher than moving the ball, however. Le Grand marched inside the Hughson 25 three times in the second half and came away with nothing.

“Schematically, I felt like we did pretty well tonight, but we just didn’t execute when we had the chance,” Alvarez said. “There were a few times we dialed up what looked like the perfect play, and we just missed it. Those little mistakes kill you in the red zone.”

LG’s second failed red-zone trip midway through the third quarter proved to be the backbreaker.

The Bulldogs fumbled the ball on a botched snap at the Huskies’ 29-yard line. Herrera burned Le Grand with a 71-yard counter on the next play to put the game out of reach. Fullback Trenton Bayes tacked on a late fourth-quarter score to make it 41-0.

“It sucks ending that tradition,” senior linebacker-fullback Christian Nava said. “You knew it had to happen sometime, but nobody wanted to be the class the streak ended on.

“It just felt like nobody came to play tonight. The defense makes big plays on third and long all season, and tonight we couldn’t stop them. Hopefully the juniors and sophomores can step up and start a new streak next year.”

This story was originally published November 14, 2014 at 11:16 PM with the headline "Le Grand’s title run snapped by Hughson."