Gardner runs wild in Central Valley win

Thursday night turned chilly around the time of the fourth quarter, but Ja'Quan Gardner wasn't rubbing his upper arms to combat goosebumps.

The bruises and soreness of carrying the ball 40 times in Central Valley's 33-13 victory over Davis were beginning to surface — but nothing like when the sophomore rolled out of bed this morning after the Hawks' second straight Thursday game.

"I took a beating tonight and, oh man, I have school tomorrow," Gardner said. "Friday mornings are tough but I can't be taking school time off."

No, Gardner won't be taking any time off. He's a solid student at Central Valley and, on top of that, he has a football team to carry.

Against the Spartans, his 40 carries were good for 353 yards and three scores. Two of the touchdowns, covering 23 and 75 yards, came in the game's final 9 minutes, 23 seconds, as the Hawks pulled away from a 13-13 tie.

"He's a special kid, a 3.0 student who says 'yes sir and no sir' and will do anything we want, and we ask a lot," said Hawks' coach Tim Garcia, whose team improved to 2-2 with the win against his alma mater. "The future is really bright for him. He's a superior athlete."

Both teams were starting novice quarterbacks. The Hawks went with Kenny Lopez as starter Abraham Navarro was nursing a hyperextended knee. The Spartans also made a change, moving running back Markell Perkins to quarterback and running an I-back variation of the pistol — a Louisiana State University look.

But with both quarterbacks making their first varsity starts, the play-calling had to be simplified.

For Central Valley, that meant the ball was in Gardner's hands for 40 of its 59 offensive snaps.

And for Davis (0-3), it meant either Perkins or Rey Vega would be carrying the ball.

Perkins showed the ability to move his team, running for 79 yards and completing seven of 11 passes for 95 yards, while Vega carried 18 times for 181 yards and both Spartan scores.

But either Perkins or Vega probably should have gotten one more carry.

With the teams tied 13-13 after a scoreless third quarter, the Spartans drove to a first-and-goal at the Central Valley 3. Perkins carried twice and Vega once, but could only move the ball to the 1. On fourth down, Davis attempted a fly sweep to the left, but the Hawks penetrated and stopped Joe Palacios for a loss.

"That was a missed call by our quarterback," said Davis coach Chris Cloward. "I should have called time out when I saw motion because we weren't supposed to be running that play."

Gardner carried the ball nine times for 76 yards on Central Valley's ensuing 96-yard scoring march, and carried six times for 25 yards on the Hawks' next possession, which ended in a 1-yard Lopez dive.

Gardner then capped the night by breaking free on a 75-yard scoring run with 1:06 remaining, pulling away from the Spartans' defense on his 40th carry and adding to his team's 444 yards of offense.

"I had no idea I had that many carries," Gardner said. "We had to make that adjustment (at quarterback) and we had a short week of practice, so we had to get it done and we made it happen tonight."

Gardner's total fell short of Tyree Jones' school record 391 yards set Nov. 5, 2010, against Ceres.

For Davis, this was a loss on which to grow. The Spartans gained 361 yards, and perhaps were within a busted call of their first win.

"We keep making strides," Cloward said. "We have major rebuilding to do here ... and overall our football IQ needs to be raised."

Bee staff writer Brian VanderBeek can be reached at bvanderbeek@modbee.com or (209) 578-2300. Follow him at twitter.com/modestobeek.