A balanced effort on offense and defense leads MJC to victory over Sierra.
Modesto Junior College quarterback Danny Velasquez was in trouble.
The 2016 Turlock High graduate was trying to avoid a group of Sierra defenders while looking for an open receiver.
After running in zigzags for close to 10 seconds, Velasquez somehow found sophomore wide receiver Brandon Gray (Beyer) for a 24-yard touchdown late in the first half as the Pirates moved to 2-0 with a 50-20 victory over the Wolverines on Saturday at MJC.
“When we needed a play, he made it,” MJC coach Rusty Stivers said.
The play mirrored the Pirates’ effort. It wasn’t perfect, or clean, but it got the job done.
“Tonight wasn’t easy,” Stivers said.
MJC scored 15 points in the final two minutes of the second quarter and shut out Sierra in the second half to secure an important victory. Next week at home, the Pirates meet City College of San Francisco (2-0), which beat Sacramento City on Saturday 47-0.
Despite their team’s 30-point victory, both Stivers and Velasquez said there is much work to do.
“We had a lot of self-inflicted issues,” Stivers said.
MJC had 12 penalties and was forced to punt five times.
Velasquez was an efficient 14 of 20 for 250 yards and four touchdowns. Still, he wasn’t satisfied.
“It wasn’t a pretty game and we made a lot of mistakes,” Velasquez said.
He connected with freshman wide receiver Lucas Curtis (Turlock) for 55 yards and a touchdown on the opening drive and freshman running back Michael Ramos (Lathrop) scored on a 5-yard run on the next possession as MJC led 14-0 early.
After Sierra responded with 13 unanswered points, the Pirates ran a trick play on a fourth down as sophomore quarterback Brett Neves (Downey) connected with Gray on a double pass from Velasquez for a touchdown late in the first quarter.
Sophomore defensive back Marcos Gonzales (McNair) had an interception in the third quarter and freshman linebacker Marquise Higgins (East Union) had a fumble recovery in the fourth for the Pirates. Sierra didn’t reach the red zone in the second half and the Wolverines averaged 1.8 yards per carry.
“When our offense was stuttering, the defense stepped up,” Stivers said.
Gray finished over 100 receiving yards and three touchdowns and Ramos had 158 rushing yards and two scores as well.
This story was originally published September 14, 2019 at 10:24 PM.
