DANVILLE – Monte Vista had a fast start Friday night against visiting California and never trailed in a 27-22 victory to stay undefeated.
Adam Wright was instrumental in the victory for the Mustangs (7-0, 2-0 East Bay Athletic League Mountain Division). On the second play from scrimmage, he took a lateral pass from quarterback Dyllan Devitt and sprinted down the left sideline for a 59-yard touchdown.
The Mustangs, ranked No. 10 by the Bay Area News Group, also scored quickly on their second possession to take a 13-0 lead over No. 7 California (6-2, 1-2). Jack Endries took a shovel pass from Devitt for a four-yard touchdown only four minutes, two seconds into the game.
Wright, playing his first season at defensive back, then grabbed an interception in the Cal end zone on a short pass by Teddy Booras to stifle the Grizzlies’ first drive. Monte Vista limited Cal to 71 yards passing in the first half and 89 in the game.
The teams traded interceptions, as Cal’s Dom Tuyor nabbed a Devitt pass and returned the pick 41 yards to the Monte Vista 24. Two plays later, California’s Jake Calcagno looked like he would be caught 13 yards behind the line of scrimmage on a run that started on the Monte Vista 19. But Calcagno reversed the field and sped into the end zone to cut Monte Vista’s lead to 13-6 late in the first quarter.
After a quiet start to the second quarter, there were three scoring plays in the final three minutes of the first half.
Devitt found Zach Diebner in the back of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown pass and a 19-6 Monte Vista lead with 2:35 left in the second quarter. California answered quickly with a three-play, 54-yard drive that end with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Booras to Nabi Wahab.
After a three-and-out by Monte Vista, the Grizzlies marched into field-goal range, and Macray Madruga connected on a 31-yarder on the last play of the first half to narrow Monte Vista’s lead to 19-16.
Although there was no scoring in the third quarter, Monte Vista started a successful 60-yard drive with just over four minutes remaining and reached the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter on a one-yard run by Devitt. Then on a two-point conversion try, a composed Devitt fired a pass to Tyler Hibberd in the end zone right before Devitt was forced out of bounds. Monte Vista had a double-digit lead, 27-16.
California again answered quickly with a touchdown drive, ending with a 1-yard touchdown run by Booras with 10:27 left in the fourth quarter. But a two-point conversion pass failed.
Monte Vista then took 10:01 off the clock with a 70-yard drive that included 10 runs by Rocco Schramm, who finished with a team-high 141 yards on 31 carries. But a fourth-down pass at the California 13 fell incomplete. Cal had 21 seconds and 87 yards of real estate in front of them, but lost yardage as the clock ran out.
For Monte Vista, Wright rushed five times for 79 yards, and teammate Cole Boscia caught a game-high six passes for 69 yards.
California’s Trevor Rund led all rushers with 161 yards on nine carries.
