The Dons scored in each quarter Saturday afternoon to post a
convincing 35-9 victory over Gavilan
CUPERTINO — De Anza College waited two years to extend its winning streak over the Gavilan Rams to three games.
The Dons scored in each quarter Saturday afternoon to post a convincing 35-9 victory Saturday over Gavilan on the winners’ home field.
After a light failure at Gilroy High canceled the 2009 showdown between the two former Coast Conference rivals, De Anza jumped to a 14-0 halftime lead. When Gavilan threatened to make a game of it with the first nine points of the second half, the Dons responded with the game’s final three touchdowns.
“We were missing three starters on offense: a running back, receiver and offensive lineman,” Gavilan coach John Lango said. “Our defense played hard, caused some turnovers, although we missed some tackles.”
Dan Atencio, the former Gavilan coach in his fourth season leading De Anza, lauded his defense for taking control of the game in the final 20 minutes.
“We were big and active on defense,” he said. “The offense was pretty good, but more of our athletes were on defense and it showed. We’ve put a lot of work on conditioning and it helped out in the second half.”
De Anza almost doubled Gavilan’s offensive output. The Dons finished with 316 yards of total offense to the Rams’ 162.
The Dons used sophomore letterman Ryan Stillwell for most of the contest. Stillwell finished 21 for 32 for 202 yards passing, a pair of touchdowns and two interceptions. Transfer Jerry Slota added 39 yards on a 2-for-4 back-up effort.
Gavilan went with Milpitas product Cameron Hernandez to start at quarterback. Hernandez was inconsistent, finishing with 68 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in a 9-of-18 performance.
Backup quarterback Sean Berglund came up with 44 yards in a 6-for-14 effort. Berglund had a tough first play, finding his slant pass returned 54 yards for a touchdown on an interception by William Davis to start the second quarter.
De Anza took the opening kick-off and marched inside the Gavilan 10 before giving the ball up on downs when Ram Bryan Gutierrez stuffed a fourth-and-one running play for a loss. The Dons regained possession at the Rams’ 43 following a punt and needed only four plays to take a 7-0 lead. After Stillwell and Slota combined for a 41-yard pass play to the 1-yard line, Slota ran a power play off tackle for the touchdown with 8:35 left in the quarter.
Davis gave De Anza the 14-0 cushion, and the Dons had another long march in the second quarter that merited six first downs before a fumbled snap gave Gavilan the ball at the 9.
Ryan Costa, who was called on to punt 10 times for the Rams, ignited the team two minutes into the second half with a diving interception on the Dons’ 41. Hernandez gained one first down with a 9-yard scramble, then threaded a 27-yard touchdown pass to Andre Cornell behind the De Anza defense. Jeff Roberts of Live Oak High School added the PAT to leave it 14-7 De Anza with 12:15 left in the third quarter.
Gavilan added a safety less than one minute later when a high snap over Slota’s head forced the quarterback to fall on the ball in the end zone with 11:22 to go in the quarter.
Gavilan could not register another first down for the next 18 minutes, though, and De Anza roared back with three touchdowns.
De Anza, a new member of the Golden Gate Conference, converted three third-down plays on a 73-yard touchdown march. Stillwell pitched a 7-yard touchdown toss to Shane Miller in the right corner of the end zone with 1:32 left in the third.
De Anza’s next touchdown came on a blocked Costa punt with 11:40 left. Daniel Robertson made the block, and Kwasi Achiaw pounced on the pigskin to leave De Anza up 28-9. The Dons turned their next possession into a six-play march covering 48 yards. Stillwell’s 9-yard swing pass to Matthew Barquira completed the scoring.
James Gaynor, Gavilan’s workhorse running back, covered 40 yards on 14 rushes. Cornell and Excaliber Holder each had six receptions for Gavilan, which opens the home portion of the 2010 season at 1 p.m. Saturday against Merced College in Garcia-Elder Sports Complex.
