Football: Mustangs Can't Keep Pace With Pittsburg

On a night the Monte Vista High football team lost 38-21 to Pittsburg, the somber postgame mood had more to do with a play that didn't affect the game's outcome.

With the Mustangs trailing 31-21 about halfway through the fourth quarter, receiver Shane Ertz was hit hard from two directions and was knocked motionless to the turf.

The Monte Vista training staff kept him still until paramedics arrived. When they did, they moved him on a stretcher and took him away in an ambulance. 

"He was able to move his arms and legs, but it was a hard hit," Monte Vista coach Craig Bergamn said. "He got his bell rung, but he'll be ok."

One paramedic hinted at the injury being a concussion, but there was no official word.

"He's one of my best friends away from the field and I've know him for as long as I can remember," Monte Vista quarterback Jeff Lockie said. "It's scary, but I think he'll be ok. It happened to him another time when were playing basketball ... it was a bad concussion."

The course of events overshadowed a game the Mustangs would just as soon forget about. 

After leading 21-17 at halftime, nothing clicked in the second half and the Pirates were able to run wild.

Mister Cotton ran for a pair of second-half scores and finished with 196 yards on 16 carries, but wasn't even the team's top rusher. Fe'ao Vunipola led Pittsburg with 217 yards on 26 carries as the team ran for 464 yards

"We're not going to win when we give up rushing first downs on third-and-15 and fourth-and-12," Bergman said.

When Pittsburg went to the air — more so in the first half — the Pirates struggled to move the ball, but a concerted effort to run the ball paid off in the second half.

Lockie, an Oregon commit, completed 20 of 39 passes for 230 yards, but his stats suffered from several dropped balls — often at critical times.

Dan Scritchfield caught 11 passes for 165 yards and Troy Johnson returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown — the longest possible kick return in California high school football.

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Updates about Shane Ertz's condition will be posted on Twitter/kylebonagura.