Inches were all that separated the Fremont Firebirds from victory and at least one more game in the 2014 Central Coast Section Division I football play-offs last Friday night at Piedmont Hills.
Phillip Tran’s long pass intended for Austin Smith in the waning minutes of Fremont’s opening round match-up against Piedmont Hills was broken up at the last possible second by a Pirate defender, sealing a 33-31 season-ending defeat for the Firebirds.
“We were just inches away from winning that game,” lamented Fremont head coach Jake Messina. “It was that close to being 37-33 in our favor.”
Instead, it was the fourth-seeded Pirates who earned the right to advance to the semi-final round of the section play-offs against Salinas, a 41-8 winner over Menlo-Atherton, this Friday at Salinas High.
“In the end, a couple of breaks just didn’t go our way,” said Messina.
Fremont, which won its first nine games of the season before losing its Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division finale to Homestead a week earlier, ended the season 9-2 overall, rebounding from a 2-8 season last year but failing in its bid to win a post-season game for the first time in 26 years.
“I’m really proud of how far the kids have come in a short amount of time,” said Messina.
For the second straight week, the Firebirds found themselves in an early hole, trailing the Pirates 13-0 at the end of the first quarter on a Marcus Romero-to-Isaiah Stewart touchdown pass and a 1-yard plunge into the end zone by Francis Ebalo.
“It wasn’t how we scripted it,” admitted Messina. “We hadn’t done that (fallen behind early) all year until the last two games. I think it was a little bit of nerves on our part.”
Fremont, thanks to the leadership of sophomore quarterback Tran, responded to the early deficit by erupting for 24 second-quarter points to take a 24-19 halftime lead.
The Firebird comeback began when Bruce Fua forced a fumble and Afa Prescott scooped it up and rumbled 77 yards with it for a momentum-shifting touchdown.
A short while later, sophomore kicker Mitchell Arteaga cut the Pirate lead to 13-10 with a 30-yard field goal.
The Firebirds then took a momentary 17-13 lead when Tran unloaded a 65-yard scoring strike to Jordan Hendy, and Cristian Barrios tacked on his second of an eventual four extra point kicks.
Piedmont Hills briefly regained the lead on a 36-yard touchdown scamper by Aaron Tillak, but the Firebirds came right back with a half-ending drive that culminated in a 2-yard TD blast by Tran, giving Fremont its 24-19 lead at intermission.
The game–and ultimately, the Firebirds’ season–changed dramatically with the start of the second half when Tillak returned the kick-off 86 yards for six points, putting Piedmont Hills back ahead for good.
“We had not planned to kick to their kid (Tillak), who is an excellent returner. But we had a miscommunication on the type of kick we wanted, and he wound up returning it for a touchdown. Suddenly we were down three points (27-24),” said Messina.
Three points became nine points early in the fourth quarter when Stewart and Romero hooked up for a second touchdown pass, this time from 10 yards out, giving Piedmont Hills a 33-24 advantage.
The Firebirds wouldn’t go down without a fight, however, cutting the Pirate lead back to two points on a 44-yard TD toss from Tran to Smith. It was Tran’s 25th touchdown pass of the season, and the third hauled in by Smith.
After the game, Messina praised his talented sophomore QB, who threw for over 2,000 yards this year.
“He is going to be a very special player down the road,” said Fremont’s boss. “He is unusually poised for a kid his age. Very steady, very rational. He doesn’t have a lot of (emotional) ups and downs.”
Messina also had praise for defensive standout Sam Kanongata’a Jr. and Prescott, the Firebirds’ outstanding two-way lineman.
“Sam pressured the quarterback all night. He played really well defensively,” said Messina.
Of Prescott, Messina added, “He is one of the finest linemen I have ever had the pleasure of coaching, and I have coached two others who went on to play in the NFL. He’s that good. He played phenomenally on both sides of the ball.”
The Firebirds, who shared the El Camino Division crown with Homestead and Mountain View this season, will lose 13 players to graduation this June–Kanongata’a, Smith, Prescott, Jisiah Ybarra, Michael Valles, Sam Sanchez, Oscar Baerga, Bryan Landaverde, Devante Sanchez, Kahileigh Creamer, Thien Pham, Jeremiah Holbrook and Ruben Aguilera.
Fremont’s quest to return to the CCS play-offs next year will be bolstered by returning juniors Alejandro Morales, Hendy, Ezequiel Vieyra, D’andre Wright, Jordan Brister, Paulo Puga, Dominic Acosta, Michael Alva, Jonathan Gonzalez, Saul Scher, Ramandeep Jagdev, Juan Ante-Vasquez and Fua, as well as sophomores Tran, Gino Lopez, Mitchell Arteaga, Nehumi Tuulakitau, Jeremiah Creamer, Winston Ofa, Preston Mullenberg, Eric Ozburn, Jayden Kiele, Ben Tui, Jessy Lopez and Barrios.
