Why Gregori football star stayed in the game after helmet-to-helmet hit.

At the line of scrimmage, Gregori High tight end Gabe Sanchez often peers over at his quarterback and lifelong best friend, searching for a tell.

Like a wink.

"I look at him and he looks at me, and I can just tell," Sanchez said of Bobby Avina. "I know if I need to strap on my chin strap a little tighter and put my mouthpiece in."

There was one such play during last week's 45-20 victory over Franklin of Elk Grove in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs.

It came on a pivotal drive in the fourth quarter with the Jaguars holding a 24-20 lead. Sanchez was locked in one-on-one coverage with a safety keeping close watch.

"My first instinct was to get past him," Sanchez recalled. "Their defense was athletic, and he was pretty strong."

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound senior pushed past the 6-2, 185-pound corner, looked back for the ball and reeled in the off-balance catch. He tumbled toward the ground with his back to the safety, who wasn't far behind.

The safety crashed down on Sanchez with a helmet-to-helmet hit that reverberated around Don Lanphear Stadium. The hit was met with an immediate response: two penalty flags and commentary from the home sideline.

"Oh, right in the head!" cried one player.

Seemingly unfazed, Sanchez sprung to his feet, signaled first down and walked back to the huddle because, well ...

That's what football players do, he said. Four plays later, Sanchez triggered the rout with a tip-toeing, 2-yard touchdown catch in the back of the end zone.

"It was a big hit," said Sanchez, a smart kid with a bright future. He holds scholarship offers from Dartmouth, the University of San Diego and Columbia, to name only a few.

"But your adrenaline is rushing and your juices are flowing. ... Things like that, little catches like that, that resiliency to pop up, it lets your team know you're good."

While the Gregori faithful erupted in celebration after the touchdown, behind the scenes, doctors and team officials were still investigating the helmet-to-helmet hit.

Thanks to technology provided by Modesto City Schools and Riddell, a leading helmet manufacturer, Modesto's public-school football programs can diagnosis the severity of every hit, from the freshmen to varsity levels.

Every player is outfitted with a Riddell InSite Response System helmet, which measures the impact of a collision and relays the information to a computer monitored by a team doctor on the sideline. When there's a hit that exceeds the threshold, the hand-held device vibrates and beeps, and the player is identified.

Though he was alerted to the big hit, Dr. Barandica saw nothing alarming about Sanchez's reaction. Sanchez popped to his feet and later scored one of the biggest touchdowns in program history. It was the first playoff victory in school history and sets up a showdown at No. 2 Oak Ridge on Friday.

"I believe it went off," Gregori coach Jason McCoy said. "The sideline doctor checked him out, evaluated him, and he was good to go. We had three doctors on the sideline to take a look at him. Any red flags and you're done."

"It caught my attention," Dr. Barandica said of the hit. "I was watching him for the next several minutes. Sometimes, symptoms are delayed. When he came off the field, we had a conversation."

Sanchez, who suffered a severe concussion last summer, answered each of Dr. Barandica's questions -- What's the score of the game? What did you have for lunch? -- and was cleared.

As the son of a Pop Warner player safety coach, Sanchez appreciates the added layer of safety afforded to Modesto City Schools programs. The district is the largest in the state to implement the system, a $347,000 investment.

Sanchez admits that he would have fought to remain in the game, even if he was stunned by the hit or wasn't cleared by the medical staff.

"My monitor was ringing after that hit, but all three team doctors made sure I was OK," said Sanchez, who has experienced no ill-effects from the hit this week. "We went through the protocol. It's great to have that feeling that your safety is No. 1. All of our doctors are awesome. They're always looking after player safety."

But ...

"I'm one of those people that, no matter the circumstance, no matter how hard I get hit, I'm going to stand back up and play the next play," he added. "I would hate to go against an expert's opinion, but the win is everything to me."

This story was originally published November 15, 2017 at 1:59 PM with the headline "Why Gregori football star stayed in the game after helmet-to-helmet hit.."