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Victory certainly seemed unlikely at one point, but the Menlo-Atherton football team overcame a series of obstacles Friday night and emerged with a 30-27 win in overtime over McClymonds of Oakland.
Game winning kick in OT against McClymonds. @coach_sumo @coachsaunders85 pic.twitter.com/18OZWRVnWW
— Juan Pulido (@Juan_Pulido19) September 25, 2021
Juan Pulido connects on a 22-yard field goal in overtime to give Menlo-Atherton a 30-27 win over previously undefeated McClymonds.
The Bears trailed 27-14 in the fourth quarter, but rallied with two 1-yard touchdown runs by Dane Fifita to draw even, 27-27, with 1:15 left. But after that second Fifita touchdown Juan Pulido’s extra-point kick hit the left upright, leaving the score tied and setting up the scenario of a game decided in overtime.
Teams get alternating possessions starting on the 10-yard line according to high school rules. McClymonds had the first possession, but was hit with two penalties and suffered two losses. On fourth and 40 a pass fell incomplete and M-A took over for its possession with the score still tied.
The Bears gained 5 yards in three plays, and on fourth down Pulido trotted back on the field with a chance to redeem himself. And even after a last-second McClymonds timeout to freeze him, he calmly booted the ball through the uprights for a 22-yard field goal and a M-A victory that set off a wild celebration with fans pouring onto the field to join the victorious players.
“I felt calm knowing I had my whole team on my side the whole entire game,” Pulido said. “Having them come up to me and telling me to keep my head up. I knew we would come up with the win somehow, and we did.”
“He’s a football player, he makes tackles on kickoffs,” acting head coach TJ Matsumoto said of Pulido. “He’s one of the most confident kickers I’ve run across, so in tune with what he does.”
The first obstacle M-A cleared was playing the game without head coach Chris Saunders, who was absent after undergoing emergency oral surgery. Matsumoto, normally the defensive coordinator, found out around 2:30 that he would be guiding the team that evening.
And with Saunders normally serving as his own offensive coordinator, Matsumoto switched sides, taking over the play calling at a virtual moment’s notice and handing off the defensive coordinator duties to another coach.
“It was weird,” Matsumoto said. “I had the sheets for the offense but didn’t know how to read them. It was definitely different and it helped that our quarterback played out of his mind.”
Matsumoto was referring to senior QB Matt MacLeod, who completed 18 of 27 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns despite facing a very physical and athletic pass rush. His 40-yard bomb to Johno Price, thrown while on the dead run and as he was about to get clobbered, gave the Bears a first down at the 1 and set up Fifita’s tying plunge.
“Their defense was great, a lot of big guys and a lot of fast guys,” MacLeod said. “But I never lost faith in our guys and we pulled it out.”
McClymonds (3-1) scored first and had a 13-7 lead at halftime. M-A (2-2) took its first lead of the game at 14-13 on Pulido’s PAT after MacLeod passed to Johnnie Barbie for a 4-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter.
Mack, which operated primarily out of the spread in the first half, went to an I-formation power game, with two tight ends, in the second half and responded with two touchdowns to open a 27-14 lead with 8:57 to go in the game.
It looked as though the visitors had seized control of the game.
But the Bears had another thought. Fifita immediately broke off a tackle-breaking 41-yard run that gave them life. MacLeod hit Jalen Moss for 10 yards to set up Fifita’s first 1-yard TD run.
McClymonds picked up one first down on the ground, but on third and 9 Thomas Taufui broke through for a sack and forced a punt.
Taufui, M-A’s starting running back to begin the season, had been out since the opener against Bellarmine, and wasn’t expected to play this week.
“We limited him to 10 plays but we were really struggling getting any kind of pass rush, so I asked him how he felt and if he could go in,” Matsumoto said. “He was an absolute difference maker.”
M-A took over on its own 40 and picked up 2 yards on three plays. But on fourth and 8, MacLeod connected with Moss on a 13-yard completion. Two plays later he threw the long pass to Price, who dragged would-be tacklers to the 1.
“This game really showed the growth of this team,” Matsumoto said. “It’s a game they’ll remember the rest of their lives.”
