Hilmar beats defending TVL champ Modesto Christian, still in hunt for share of league crown

Hilmar wide receiver Brandon Almeida saw the yellow penalty flag hit the ground and immediately went into defense attorney mode.

The 5-foot-6, 145-pound senior, penalized for holding, began to plead his case to the official even as teammate Cody Rentfro was galloping 84 yards into the end zone – all for naught.

But just over two minutes later, Almeida made up for the infraction, catching a short pass from quarterback Daniel Teixeira and scampering up the sideline to complete a 47-yard touchdown that put the Yellowjackets up by two scores and forced Modesto Christian to play catch-up the rest of the night.

The Crusaders never did catch Hilmar, which used 19 unanswered points in the third quarter to pull away for a 54-35 victory Friday night at Roy Blakeley Field.

“I got back to the sideline and Cody told me that I held the guy on purpose so I could get a TD on that drive,” Almeida joked.

On Almeida’s scoring play, which made it 21-7 with 6:37 to play in the first half, Teixeira rolled right and appeared as if he might tuck the ball and take off.

“I came back to make a block because Daniel’s such a dual threat,” Almeida said. “Next thing I know, the ball is in the air.”

Teixeira completed 6 of 10 passes for 128 yards and two scores, the second a 49-yard strike to Alex Chavez.

On second and seven from Hilmar’s 38 late in the first half, Chavez noticed the MC cornerback cheating toward the line of scrimmage. He sprinted off the line uncovered and yelled to get Teixeira’s attention, to no avail. The Yellowjackets ran the ball to the opposite side.

“I went back and talked to Daniel and told him that the corner was blitzing,” Chavez said.

On the next play from scrimmage, Teixeira dropped back to pass, but this time he heard Chavez calling for the ball and whipped around to the right to see a wide-open target.

“They blitzed their corner and had their safety go to the (opposite) side of the formation,” Teixeira said. “(Alex) was at least 10 to 15 yards in front of the defender. The first thing that came to my mind was, ‘Don’t overthrow him.’ ”

That made the score 28-14 with 2:39 remaining in the first half, plenty of time for MC to make it a one-score game. But the Crusaders coughed up the ball with 1:45 left, and the Yellowjackets (6-3, 3-1 TVL) took over on their 45. Four plays later, they were inside MC’s 10, ready to deliver the death blow, when MC defensive tackle Joseph Yanez sniffed out the screen pass and picked off Teixeira to end the threat.

It was only a temporary reprieve.

Hilmar got the ball to start the second half and capped a five-play, 68-yard drive with Noah Batista’s three-yard score. The big play was a 48-yard burst from Joshua Lee Jennings, who ran for 199 yards and two TDs – one a nifty 39-yarder – on 15 carries.

Modesto Christian fumbled on its first possession of the second half – Rentfro recovered – and Hilmar took over just 25 yards from paydirt. Teixeira scored from the 3 to make 40-14. He’d run in another six minutes later, this one from six yards out, to give the Yellowjackets their biggest lead at 47-14.

“Our offense really carried us tonight,” said Hilmar coach Frank Marques, whose team amassed 576 total yards. “I’m really proud that this team has started to peak at just the right time.”

Modesto Christian (3-6, 2-2) totaled 412 yards, with Chris Brown gaining the lion’s share: 181 rushing yards on 13 carries. Teammate Marcus Warren totaled 93 yards on 17 attempts.

This story was originally published November 1, 2015 at 4:21 PM with the headline "Hilmar beats defending TVL champ Modesto Christian, still in hunt for share of league crown."