Gauchos defend Southern League title

The Saddleback football team needed a win on Saturday night to secure a spot in the upcoming Southern California playoffs and capture the National Division Southern League title.  The Gauchos got the job done, finishing off Orange Coast 28-21 to improve to 9-1.

Saddleback started quickly when they drove down the field in their first drive, scoring in six plays when Nick Robinson hit Marvin Marshall for a 16-yard score for a 7-0 lead.  Following that, the Gauchos fell asleep for about 25 minutes, allowing Orange Coast to take a 14-7 lead.  During the OCC run, Saddleback committed four penalties, including three off-sides penalties on one drive.  Saddleback finally woke up from the brief nap in time to tie the game before the half when Marshall took a sweep around the end and scored from nine yards out with 4:34 left in the half.

The Gauchos came out with a different attitude in the second half, scoring on the first play from scrimmage when Robinson hit Deondre Moore for a 69-yard score.  Moore caught the ball on the sidelines on a perfect strike from Robinson and dashed past the defenders for a 21-14 lead.

Things got a bit sloppy for both teams for the next 20 minutes as neither team could find any points.  Saddleback had two chances but missed a 27-yard field goal late in the third quarter and then drove down the field again but fumbled deep in Pirate territory to keep the Pirates hanging around.

Saddleback looked as if it had put away the game with 7:00 remaining when Edward Vander scampered nine yards for a 28-14 lead.  The Pirates responded by driving to the Gaucho 14 yard line but were stopped when Alvin Williams stepped in front of a Kody Whitaker pass to halt the drive.

Saddleback again looked as if it had put the game out of reach as Vander ran for 20 yards to the Gaucho 34 yard line as the clock ran below four minutes.  Three plays later, Robinson took off running out of the pocket and put the ball on the turf, giving Orange Coast another life.

Orange Coast responded, driving 50 yards in 10 plays to cut the lead to 28-21 when Whitaker scored on fourth down and goal from inside the one yard line.  The Pirates used all of their timeouts on the drive and were left with only 1:15 remaining on the clock, forcing them to try an on-sides kick.  The Pirate kicker then blasted the ball out of bounds, giving the Gauchos the ball at the Pirate 46 to send the sidelines into celebration mode.

Vander had a big night for Saddleback, finishing with 183 yards on 26 carries.  He now has 976 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground for the Gauchos, the best season on the ground for a Saddleback player since PT Gates rushed for 1,338 in 2006.  His 15 touchdowns in one season ranks No. 5 all-time in program history.

Robinson was just as dangerous, beating the Pirates with both his arm and his legs.  He finished 15-of-22 for 245 yards and two scores through the air while rushing for 75 yards on the ground.  Remy Wasserbach was his favorite target, catching five balls for 90 yards on the night.

One of the big turnarounds in the second half was penalties.  The Gauchos committed nine penalties in the opening half but were whistled just three times in the second. 

Saddleback had great contributions on defense from Kyle Adams and Manny Pelzer, who both finished with a team-leading 11 tackles.  Pelzer was also active behind the line of scrimmage, finishing with 2.5 tackles-for-loss and two quarterback hurries.

Saddleback is now 9-1 on the season and finishes 4-1 in Southern League play.  The Gauchos have tiebreaker over Fullerton for the playoffs and will find out their seed over the next 24 hours.