Trojans rally twice to notch first win

MHS scores final three TDs in 32-28 victory

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Posted 9/28/17

ROCKFORD – Despite still coming up empty in the win column, Mendota has shown an increasing resolve over the last couple of games that has had it on the cusp of victory. Finally, that resiliency paid off with a win.

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Trojans rally twice to notch first win

MHS scores final three TDs in 32-28 victory

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Mendota’s Jacob Eutis gets grabbed from behind by Rockford Lutheran’s Christian Bonacquisti while Kyle Morgan also moves in from the front on Sept. 22 at Rockford. (Reporter photo)

ROCKFORD – Despite still coming up empty in the win column, Mendota has shown an increasing resolve over the last couple of games that has had it on the cusp of victory. Finally, that resiliency paid off with a win.

The Trojans fell behind by two touchdowns on two occasions against Rockford Lutheran, but that didn’t let it faze them as they came back each time until they finally seized the lead in the fourth quarter. Then the defense held off the Crusaders one last time and the offense was able to run out the clock for a 32-28 win in a Big Northern Conference battle on Sept. 22 at Rockford.

Mendota’s records now stand at 1-4 overall and in the conference, while Lutheran is still searching for its first victory of the season.

The Trojans dug themselves holes to start the game and the second half when Lutheran scored a pair of touchdowns at each juncture to take 14-point leads. But Mendota tied the game going into halftime and then it took advantage of a pair of Crusader turnovers and had a big play on special teams to pull out the victory.

With Lutheran in front 28-14 late in the third quarter, the Trojans advanced into Crusader territory on a nice run by Jacob Eutis, but he had the ball stripped from his grasp and it was recovered by Lutheran’s Tiger Brown at the Crusader 35-yard line. Lutheran drove into Mendota’s side of the field, but the possession came to an end when a high snap from center went over the quarterback’s head and it was pounced on by Mendota’s Bryson Prusator at the Trojan 48-yard line.

The Trojans moved to Lutheran’s 36-yard where Prusator lofted a pass toward the right corner and Eddie Sandoval managed to pull in the aerial and avoid stepping out of bounds for a 35-yard touchdown catch with two seconds left in the third period. Mendota elected to try for two points on the conversion and it was no good.

Edwin Angulo drove the ensuing kick deep into Lutheran territory and the Crusaders started their next possession at the 18. Mendota’s defense held Lutheran and forced a punt, which the Trojans’ Ben Bokus gathered in at the Lutheran 45-yard line with a full head of steam. He managed to dash and dart his way through would-be Lutheran tacklers until he reached the end zone for a touchdown to make it 28-26. The Trojans tried to tie the game on a two-point conversion run, but it came up short of the goal line.

Another booming kick by Angulo pinned Lutheran back at its own 9-yard line, and disaster struck for the Crusaders again when Brown fumbled and Mendota’s Arturo Serrano fell on it at the 18-yard line. The Trojans were only able to move the ball 3 yards, so Angulo came on for a 32-yard field goal attempt, which sailed wide right. But on the play, a Lutheran defender ran into Angulo and the Crusaders were called for a personal foul roughing-the-kicker penalty. That gave the Trojans a first down at the 8-yard line. Two plays later, Angulo darted into the end zone from 5 yards out to give the Trojans a 32-28 lead with 5:43 left. The two-point attempt failed.

On its next possession, Lutheran held the ball only 33 seconds and was forced to punt. The Trojans were able to take nearly three minutes off the clock when they faced a fourth-and-three from the Crusader 39-yard line. Mendota chose to try for the first down, but it didn’t have to run a play as a Lutheran lineman jumped offsides and it gave the Trojans an automatic first down. They were able to run out the clock and the Mendota faithful celebrated its first win of the season.

The Trojan offense outgained Lutheran, 374 yards to 342, running 64 total plays compared to 43 for the home team. Mendota had a balanced rushing attack, led by Eutis with 87 yards on 11 carries. Prusator completed five passes for 79 yards and two touchdowns. Lutheran had a pair of 100-yard rushers – Brown with 122 and Tereiq Blake-Washington with 101. Blake-Washington also threw for 119 yards.

It was the running of Brown that got the Crusaders moving to start the game when they needed eight plays to cover 80 yards to score the game’s first touchdown at the 8:45 mark of the opening stanza. Brown picked up all but 17 yards during the drive.

Mendota had to punt the ball away on its first series, and Lutheran needed less than a minute to get back into the end zone when Blake-Washington sprinted 51 yards to paydirt. Joshua Pearson converted the PAT kick after both TDs and it was 14-0.

The Trojans responded by tying the game with a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter. Prusator led Mendota on a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive when he had a nifty 26-yard run during the series that eventually led to a 1-yard TD plunge by the quarterback with 11:09 left before half. Angulo nailed the extra-point kick.

A successful onside kick by the Trojans didn’t pan out, but when Lutheran got the ball back, Brown fumbled and Mendota’s Trevor Schmitt came away with the ball at the Trojan 46-yard line. An 18-yard run by Eutis on a fourth-and-seven play gave Mendota a first down, and then the Trojans capped off the drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Prusator to Sandoval at the 4:37 mark. Angulo’s kick made it 14-14, which is where the score stood at intermission.

Just like to open the game, Lutheran scored a pair of quick touchdowns to start the third quarter to take a 14-point lead. Blake-Washington ran in from 20 yards out and then he hooked up with Micah Davenport on a 61-yard touchdown pass, each followed by successful PAT kicks from Pearson.

But that proved to be the extent of Lutheran’s scoring, while the Trojans tallied three consecutive touchdowns to pull out the victory.