ATHERTON – Pandemonium broke out Friday night as the entire student section at Menlo-Atherton dashed from the stands and onto the field to celebrate a 30-27 overtime victory over previously unbeaten McClymonds.
M-A erased a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter with a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs by Dane Fifita, but the go-ahead extra point with 75 seconds to go clanked off the left post to the dismay of placekicker Juan Polido.
McClymonds (3-1), in its first OT contest with coach Michael Peters at the helm, couldn’t convert on its opening possession which was derailed by a pair of sacks and resulted in a turnover on downs after a 40-yard Hail Mary.
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The Bears (2-2) also stalled after three plays, but that only set up Pulido for his moment of atonement – a 22-yard field goal that split the uprights.
“It felt like redemption,” Pulido said. “I’m just glad I was able to do it for my team.”
“Obviously I didn’t really want to kick a field goal to win the game, but I knew that was kind of the back pocket,” M-A interim coach T.J. Matsumoto said. “And the storybook ending worked out. He boinked the extra point and then he hit it right through the middle on the field goal.”
Matsumoto received a one-game promotion from his regular role as defensive coordinator because M-A coach Chris Saunders was recovering from emergency surgery on a tooth that ailed him all week.
“Big shoutout to my DB coach Ken Walker,” Matsumoto said. “He acted as the DC for most of the game and helped me out to focus on the offense and most of the game flow, as well.”
The Warriors, ranked eighth by the Bay Area News Group, demanded all of his focus, finding the end zone on their opening and final possessions of the first half to go into intermission ahead 13-7.
McClymonds quarterback Dreyan Paul got his team on the scoreboard with a 2-yard keeper 2½ minutes into the game, then tossed a 27-yard touchdown to Jay’Vion Cole with 39.9 seconds left before halftime.
“I just want our guys to compete,” McClymond coach Michael Peters said. “My guys fought to the end, so that’s all I can ask.”
M-A quarterback Matt Macleod aired it out early and often, finishing 18 of 25 for 261 yards and a pair of TDs – a 6-yard fade to Cal commit Jeremiah Earby (six catches, 98 yards) and a 4-yard hook up with Johnny Barbie on a designed rollout to go up 14-13 with 4:26 left in the third quarter.
That’s when the game appeared to slip away from the 20th-ranked Bears, with back-to-back scores from the Warriors in a four-minute span. First, a 1-yard sneak by Paul, then a 60-yard burst by Jaivian Thomas to make it 27-13 with 8:57 remaining.
But McClymonds couldn’t hold its fourth-quarter lead on the road.
“We’ve got to be able to finish those games,” Peters said. “That’s just youth, being young. I think we’ll fight through it and it was just a great game, great for my guys to go through. In Oakland, we’ve never been in an overtime game.”
Fifita, with his 5-foot-7, 201-pound frame, provided the spark M-A required for its comeback with a 41-yard romp on the first snap after falling further behind in the fourth quarter. Fifita had 14 carries for 115 yards and three catches for 35 yards
“I was always told when I was young, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” Fifita said. “Never give up. You might go through obstacles, but that’s what challenges you, what pushes you to be better.”
His rugby skills were on the display earlier during a 28-yard catch off a screen pass in which he evaded multiple tackles to set up Barbie’s TD, then in overtime with a 9-yard sack that helped push McClymonds out of field-goal range.
“It may be a surprise to people outside of this program, but we know that kid can play,” Matsumoto said, “It doesn’t matter if he’s 5-6, 5-7, he just has a huge desire to make plays. He runs with passion and pad level that I’ve never seen before and it’s great to watch him. Always, always falling forward, great effort guy, great teammate. Can’t say enough good things about him.”
In the end, it came down to the right foot of Pulido, whose confidence was never shaken after missing the PAT that forced the need for overtime.
“Teammates, coaches, everybody is trying to keep my head up – and thanks to all of them,” Pulido said. “Everybody fought for each other and that’s how we do it around M-A.”
“This is just a fellowship,” Fifita said. “Strength and diversity, this is what we build.”
It’s a moment Matsumoto won’t soon forget.
“I’m seeing the full stands, seeing the kick go through, seeing the students rush the field,” Matsumoto said. “This is what makes high school sports great. Just the absolute passion of it.”
