The East Bay Bowl trophy was hoisted up by a different shade of green this year, when the Laney Eagles bested the Vikings 29 – 14 on Saturday Nov. 23, at Laney College.
After enduring four quarters of numerous penalties and big hits, the Vikings fell short of a win to a team that they very well could have beaten — but at the end of the day, the score did not reflect the effort that DVC had put forth.
Head coach Mike Darr mentioned that it was going to be a hard fought game, against rivals they had not faced for several years before these last two.
“We made some mistakes early on and spotted them a bunch of points, but something we don’t have to worry about is our guys playing hard, they will always play hard,” Darr said. “A lot of times it’s not who makes the game-winning play, but the game losing mistake. We made some early on that we couldn’t recover from.”
The Viking captains, Robert Johnson, Tui Talia, Joe Te’o and Teddy Baker won the coin toss and elected to receive.
On the opening kickoff #9 fielded it at the 10 and returned it to the 21 yard line. DVC’s first play was a shotgun read-option left that was handed off to #28, who gained 6 yards on the play. 2nd and 4, from the gun, Fortino’s pass was incomplete after he overthrew his receiver who went in fly-motion right from the left slot. The Vikings went three and out on their first drive. #4 on the punt, kicked it down to the Laney 35. The punt team pushed the returner out of bounds, but not before he shed the left gunner and juked his way up the right sideline just pass midfield.
An offsides penalty against DVC was called on their first defensive play of the game, but the following play was a false-start against Laney which balanced it out to a first and 10 at the DVC 25. Two plays later, the Laney running back put the first points on the scoreboard after a 20 yard lead out of I-formation, just off the left hash. The point after touchdown was good, bringing the score 7 – 0 Laney with 13:19 left in the first quarter.
After a very small kick return, DVC was set up with a 2nd and 15 on their own 8 yard line after #28 was bottled up behind the line on a pitch right. The Vikings received a bad break on 3rd down after Fortino threw a high screen pass that landed behind the swing back who went in fly-motion – the ball took a bad bounce, and rolled out of the side of the end zone for a safety – bringing the score to 9 – 0 Laney with 12:30 left on the clock.
#47 kicked the ball for DVC’s safety punt, and the return team downed the returner at the Laney 48 yard line. 1st and 10 from the 48, the shotgun snap was fumbled by Laney’s QB, who was then sacked by a host of DVC defensive linemen. The Vikings almost forced a three and out drive, but not before a Laney trick play on 3rd and 4 that would bring the Eagles to the DVC 10 yard line. On 3rd and 8 Laney connected with the left wideout on a lob pass over the corner for another score, 16 – 0 with 8:54 left in the first.
Montalvo and Johnson went deep to return for the Vikings, the kickoff was fielded by Johnson and returned to the Viking 27 for a first and 10. DVC was faced with a 3rd and 6 situation after a Te’o run, and an incomplete pass on a slant pattern; but they couldn’t convert for the first when Fortino was sacked in the gun on the intended pass play. The fourth down punt was downed at the Viking 42 yard line with 5:15 still to go in the first.
The following drive contained several penalties, DVC taking the brunt of them. Pass interference was called against the free safety, placing the ball at the 2 yard line. 3rd down came after the left outside linebacker bottled up a pitch right; however Laney would score on 3rd down after a completion to their left wideout on a five yard out route. The defensive line flushed the QB out of the pocket, but he completed the pass on the run making it 23 – 0 in the first quarter.
Montalvo and Te’o contributed to the following offensive drive, in the form of receptions and rushes. Montalvo went in fly-motion on first down, and caught a swing pass from Fortino out of the gun, but fumbled after first contact, which was recovered by DVC. An incomplete pass right just off the hands of the right tight end, and a Te’o curl brought DVC to the 34 yard line for 4th and 5 and another Viking three and out.
