Football: Monte Vista Roars Back to Beat Pittsburg 28-20

Monte Vista 28, Pittsburg 20

The Star:  Monte Vista running back Michael Sullas rushed for 153 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries and also intercepted a pass.

The Turning Point: With 10:45 left to play, quarterback Jeff Lockie capped a 76-yard scoring drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Shane Ertz, putting the Mustangs ahead for 21-20. They never trailed again.

The Quote: "It was just a weird flow of the game. They take it on an 11-minute drive in the first quarter. Teams are going to try to do that to keep our offense off the field." – Monte Vista coach Craig Bergman on Pittsburg's game-opening touchdown drive that covered 80 yards in 20 plays.

What's Next? The Mustangs face Hayward at home on Sept. 24, their final tune-up before their East Bay Athletic League opener Oct. 1 at Cal High.

Bottom line: The Pirates could never find a way to stop Sullas, who has now rushed for over 100 yards in back-to-back games, and the Mustangs' outscored Pittsburg 14-0 in the fourth-quarter shutout.

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The clock at Pirates Stadium was down to just 1:14 left in the first quarter Friday night, and Monte Vista's offense hadn't even touched the football.

Pittsburg had taken the opening kick and marched 80 yards on 20 plays, eating up 10:46 and taking a 6-0- lead — the Pirates missed the kick — on quarterback Julius Mozee's one-yard run.

Mustangs coach Craig Bergman didn't enjoy the view. After all, he had just watched a frustrating game of keep-away last week when Serra rushed for 271 yards in a 28-21 victory over his team.

"They do a nice job of running that stuff," Bergman said of Pittsburg's run-heavy spread offense. "We helped them out with a couple offside penalties and a 15-yard late hit, and those prolonged the drive. You're just watching it going, 'Well.'"

As in, well, here we go again.

Only this time, the Mustangs countered with their own punishing, clock-eating ground game, handing the ball 19 times to running back Michael Sullas, who knew exactly what to do with it. Sullas rushed for 153 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

"I've always been ready to run the ball. I'm a running back at heart," said Sullas, who doubles as a defensive back and had an interception Friday. "I was ready to run."

Monte Vista is most known most for it passing game. Last year when the Mustangs beat Pittsburg 45-25, quarterback Brett Nottingham — now a freshman at Stanford — threw for 324 yards and four touchdowns. But they also had 168 yards rushing from Greg Johnson that game, punishing the Pirates when they concentrated too much on stopping the pass.

Bergman said he wasn't surprised that Sullas made them pay this time.

"With the way they were playing us defensively, we knew we were going to be able to run the football," Bergman said. "We don't care if we run for more than (we) pass. It doesn't matter to us. If they're going to give us the run, we're going to take it."

Quarterback Jeff Lockie actually did plenty of damage himself, through the air. He completed 20 of 30 passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns,  two of those in the fourth quarter when the Mustangs pitched a 14-0 shutout.

"Jeff is doing a very good job right now," Sullas said. "His first game he did well. This game tonight he did very well, some nice touchdown throws. I'm proud of him."

After Pittsburg took its 6-0 lead, the Mustangs answered quickly with their own touchdown, a one-yard strike from Lockie to Adam Wenig early in the second quarter. That capped a 78-yard drive that Lockie jumpstarted by hitting Dane Turner with a 22-yard strike on Monte Vista's first play.

The Pirates countered with a touchdown set up by Devontae Anderson's long kickoff return to the Monte Vista 24. Anderson wound up fumbling into the end zone on first-and-goal from the four, but Pittsburg's Cory Faive recovered for a touchdown, putting the Pirates up 13-7 with 7:17 left in the first half.

Sullas gave the Mustangs a 14-13 with his 24-yard bolt midway through the third quarter. That run came on the first play after Bryce McGovern had returned a short punt 16 yards to the 24.

Pittsburg then went on another long touchdown drive, marching 66 yards — all on the ground — and taking a 20-14 lead on Mozee's one-yard sneak with 44 seconds left in the third.

Monte Vista owned the rest of the game.

The Mustangs needed just six plays to cover 76 yards for a touchdown, Lockie hitting a wide-open Shane Ertz in the left-corner of the end zone on beautifully designed play. Lockie faked the draw, and then pump-faked to McGovern, who caught 106 passes last year, in the left flat. The Pirates, not surprisingly, bit on Lockie's pump-fake, and Ertz ran free down the sideline.

"We threw it effectively when we needed to," Bergman said. "Obviously we got a few touchdowns with it."

McGovern used his good hands to get the ball right back, intercepting a Mozee pass at the Pittsburg 48.

"He always makes a big play," Sullas said. That's what we love about him."

 Sullas' 17-yard burst on a draw gave the Mustangs a first down at the 27. Two more Sullas runs netted 11 yards and moved Monte Vista to the 16.

After back-to-back incomplete passes, Lockie gunned a 16-yard touchdown pass to McGovern, who had run a comeback route and was open in the front right corner of the end zone.

That touchdown put the Mustangs ahead 28-20 with 7:21, and the defense did the rest.

"We've got some young guys, some inexperienced guys in there playing," Bergman said of his defense. "I think each and every week they'll get better. It's a total team effort, a great win."

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Monte Vista 28, Pittsburg 20

Monte Vista  0  7   7  14 -- 28

Pittsburg       6   7  7  0 -- 20

Scoring Summary

1:14, 1st: P – Mozee 1 run (kick failed).

9:32, 2nd: MV – Wenig 1 pass from Lockie (Brown kick).

7:17, 2nd: P – Faive fumble recovery in end zone (Chivichon kick).

7:28, 3rd: Sullas 24 run (Brown kick).

00:44, 3rd: Mozee 1 run (Chivichon kick).

10:45, 4th: Ertz 19 pass from Lockie (Brown kick).

7:21, 4th: McGovern 16 pass from Lockie (Brown kick).

Individual Statistics

Rushing (car-yards): MV – Sullas 19-153, Lockie 3-0.  P – Mozee 14-36, D. Turner 8-34, Brown 8-30, Anderson 9-26, Curtis-Webster 2-4.

Passing (comp-att-yards-ints): MV – Lockie 20-30-175-0.  P – Mozee 9-19-115-2.

Receiving (rec-yds): MV – Turner 8-72, McGovern 6-43, Bruce 2-10, Sullas 2-29, Ertz 1-19, Wenig 1-1. P – Barnes 6-91, Brown 2-21, Soliz 1-3.

Team offense (rushing-passing-total)

Monte Vista  – 153-175-328

Pittsburg – 130-115-245

Fumbles/lost: MV – 0/0. P – 2/0.

Records: Monte Vista 1-1. Pittsburg 0-3.

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