Mistakes doom Modesto JC football team at San Mateo

The shouts of “Keep your heads up!” and “We’ll get better!” were heard more than once as the Modesto Junior College Pirates gathered for coach Rusty Stivers’ post-game message.

“Our attitude and effort were phenomenal. Our execution was, well, that is what film is for,” Stivers told his team. “This does not change our goals. This is going to make us better.”

The Pirates hit on even terms with San Mateo – the nation’s No. 1-ranked team – arguably for the first time since the schools resumed their series four years ago. The game, however, was decided by mistakes, and MJC committed too many.

The Pirates bused down the hill from the Bulldogs’ scenic hilltop stadium with a 51-41 loss Saturday afternoon. If the lessons are learned, they’ll remain on course for the remaining eight games.

“All of us are all in,” MJC safety Tyler Johnson said. “We have little mistakes to clean up.”

Modesto (1-1) also mixed in some oversized errors. One week after they upset American River and won the turnover battle 5-0, the Pirates submerged with special-teams breakdowns.

Modesto surely will regret its 28-26 deficit at halftime, thought it controlled the run of play. San Mateo, which gained only 106 yards during the first half, turned three long kickoff returns and a pick-six into four touchdowns.

In fact, Modesto outgained the Bulldogs (2-0) 446-276, yet it was the home team protecting a two-possession lead in the fourth quarter. CSM compiled more yards on kickoff returns (36-yard average) than total yardage.

“I don’t know how we won with these stats,” San Mateo coach Bret Pollack admitted.

Upcoming MJC opponents already have circled Trey Cooper’s name in their scouting reports. The Pirates’ swashbuckling 220-pound quarterback carried 21 times for 110 yards and three touchdowns. He also left an impression with his one-on-one blows and stiff-arms for additional yards.

Cooper, on fourth-and-goal from the 2, bulled into the end zone to give Modesto a 26-21 lead with 33 seconds left in the half.

Then, like a recurring nightmare, San Mateo’s Malik Goss-Pruitt burned the coverage for 44 yards to the Modesto 41. Four plays later from the 11 with the Bulldogs out of timeouts, plucky quarterback Dru Brown scorched an MJC blitz by bolting up the middle for the TD with only 11 seconds left in the half.

MJC did not lead again.

“We’re going to evaluate how we executed and move on,” Stivers said. “We’re not going to look back. There is a lot to work on.”

Its No. 1 national ranking notwithstanding, San Mateo was ranked third in the state before kickoff. So was American River last week.

The San Mateo offense finally rolled in the second half, ignited by a one-handed catch in the end zone by 5-foot-6 Ramiah Marshall. Unlike the first half, CSM sustained drives.

Worse for Modesto, it plundered its chances by committing 20 penalties for 187 yards (CSM had 10 for 106). Pass interference flags empowered San Mateo most of the day.

Still, MJC did not submit easily. The Pirates, finding life with a fumble recovery by Justin Van Fleet, turned a short field into a Cooper touchdown early in the fourth quarter. A 2-point pass to Justice Jordan pulled Modesto to within 49-41.

It appeared the kickoff team covered some of its earlier problems by recovering a pooched kickoff. It was erased by an offside penalty, however, adding to the long day.

A good San Mateo punt eventually led to an MJC holding penalty in the end zone, resulting in a costly safety. Modesto could not respond.

“They just execute so well and do their jobs. They’re hard to stop,” Johnson said. “The kickoffs were the game-changers.”

It’s more than telling that San Mateo has averaged 51 points per game against Modesto the last four years. If they use the Bulldogs as a barometer, the Pirates have upgraded. But not enough to score the high-profile victory.

“They’ve got those kids playing hard, and it showed,” Pollack said about the Pirates. “They were not the biggest but they were playing hard.”

Modesto’s effort goes unquestioned.

This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 6:59 PM with the headline "Mistakes doom Modesto JC football team at San Mateo."