Gregori struggles in second half, comes up short in home-opener to Livermore
The Gregori High football team couldn’t get out of its own way on Friday night.
The Jaguars took a slim lead into halftime, but the second half belonged to Livermore.
The Cowboys scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter and though Gregori clawed its way back, the comeback fell short in a home-opening 35-28 defeat.
“I thought that we were playing aggressive,” Gregori coach Lamar Wallace said. “We jumped out in front and we were going to have control of that game then turnovers and penalties killed us. We’ve got to take a look in the mirror.”
The Jaguars (2-2) knew what they were facing in a Livermore offense that scored 42 points against Alhambra by mixing two run plays, leads and tosses.
In the first half, Gregori looked prepared to stop it, allowing just a touchdown.
Meanwhile on offense, Cruz Marines, who passed for 234 yards and three touchdowns, connected with Jayden Miller and Jake McBay for 13- and 45-yard touchdowns in the opening half.
Looking to score again with less than 15 seconds before intermission, Marines found Gulliermo Perez for a catch-and-run of 42 yards down to the Livermore 3-yard-line. However, the Jaguars couldn’t stop the clock and settled for a 14-7 halftime lead.
“I’m telling them, ‘Hey we didn’t play our best football in the first half and even though we got that big play, it’s zero-zero coming out into the second half.’” Wallace said.
A message that didn’t quite take.
Livermore’s first three drives of the second half all ended in scores and what was once a seven-point Gregori lead quickly flipped to a 28-14 lead for the Cowboys (3-0).
During those drives, Gregori’s offense stalled. Its first possession of the second half lasted three plays, ending in a fumble. A second ended in a punt.
To make matters worse, the Jaguars were hit with penalties – from false starts to unsportsmanlike conduct to playing music while Livermore was in its huddle.
“We dug that hole ourselves,” Wallace said. “We’ve got to be accountable.”
Even during all of that, the offense chipped away at Livermore’s lead. Miller ran for a 28-yard touchdown to make it a seven-point game with 10 minutes, 51 seconds remaining.
After Livermore extended the lead to 35-21, Marines capped his night with a 55 yard bomb to Reggieon Foster to bring the Jaguars within seven.
However, with fewer than four minutes left, the Cowboys ran out the clock.
“I was proud of that fact that they didn’t give up even after we broke down in the third quarter,” said Wallace, whose team hosts Lodi next week. “We came back together.”
This story was originally published September 11, 2021 at 1:49 AM.
