ahs vs. justin siena

Road Block
Under constant pressure, the Don’s offense floundered

The Dons came in looking to impress in their first home game of the season against Justin-Siena. Unfortunately, dropped passes, miss thrown balls, and bad blocking prevented that.

Both teams came in having won their first game, and both were looking to build on that momentum. The Dons knew they would have a hard time on defense, trying to stop the Justin-Siena attack that had put up 50 points in their previous game.

Justin-Siena had the ball first, and drove into Dons’ territory, but was held to a field goal to give them a 3-0 lead. Acalanes quickly answered with a touchdown to take the lead 7-3.

Things got even better for the Dons on the next drive for Justin-Siena. After getting to the Acalanes five yard line, they went for it on fourth down and were stopped giving the Dons the ball back. But, they went three and out, and had to punt the ball back to the Braves. Again, the Dons were given a golden opportunity to score when they recovered a Justin-Siena fumble on their 45 yard line. But, their offense couldn’t get anything going, and had was stopped after going for in on 4th and 10.

The Braves then did what the Dons had been unable to do and regained the lead. A forty-five yard run by their running back, Reid Francis, put them on the Dons 5 yard line, and another run gave them the 10-7 lead.

On the next drive, Dons quarterback Tyler Caldwell threw an interception which gave the Braves the ball, but they didn’t have enough time to score as the first half ended. The Dons were in pretty good position, only down by three points, and they would get the ball back first on offense.

Unfortunately, Acalanes couldn’t get anything going on their first drive in the second half, and had to punt the ball back to Justin-Siena. The Braves quickly drove down the field, and a thirty yard touchdown run and a missed extra point attempt gave them a 16-7 lead. Both teams were unable to get anything going on their next drive and both punted.

On the opening drive of the fourth quarter, Acalanes had the ball, and a chance to cut into the deficit. But, a dropped snap on a punt attempt gave Justin-Siena the ball back on the Acalanes 24 yard line. A 14 yard pass, and a ten yard run then gave them another touchdown. After another missed extra point attempt, the score was 22-7 in favor of Justin-Siena.

On the ensuing kickoff, sophomore running back Tyler O’Malley gave some momentum back to the home team by returning the kick for a touchdown, making the score 22-13.

The Dons desperately needed a stop on defense to give them a shot at coming back, but they just couldn’t do it. Justin-Siena scored again to make give them a 29-13 lead. After another interception thrown by Caldwell, the Braves scored again to make the score 36-13. Acalanes then punted on their next possession and Justin-Siena ran out the clock.

The Dons had come in to game confidant, “we expect to win every game.” said Tyler O’Malley, but were never able to get anything going on offense. First year starter, Tyler Caldwell had a tough night, throwing two interceptions, and a few others that were almost picked off. But, it was not all his fault, as he was under pressure all night. The Dons need to work on their blocking for their upcoming game against St. Mary’s according to Tyler O’Malley. If they don’t, don’t expect the Dons to make it very far this year.