Oregon grabs momentum before halftime, holds off Mendota

MENDOTA – Just before halftime the momentum shifted dramatically.

With the game tied and facing a fourth-and-goal from then 1-yard line, the Mendota football team opted to kick a field goal.

However, Oregon’s Adam Glendenning blocked the attempt and Issac Reber scooped up the ball and raced 95 yards for a touchdown.

“We all just got so much more motivated after that,” Oregon’s Wylee Rice said. “The hype was through the roof. It brought so much more confidence going into the second half.”

The Trojans, on the other hand, missed a chance to grab the lead and get the ball back to start the second half.

“We had a chance to take the lead and that’s what we wanted to do,” MHS coach Keegan Hill said. “We didn’t execute in that situation We have to coach the situation better. Ideally, we get the ball in before we get to that scenario.”

The Hawks rode the momentum into the third quarter to build a three-score lead before hanging on for a 30-26 Big Northern Conference victory Friday.

“We had our ups and downs,” Rice said. “Toward the end of the game, we had some fundamental mistakes, but we took it home. We got it.”

Up 14-6 to start the second half, the Hawks recovered a fumble on Mendota’s second play and cashed in with a 12-yard touchdown run by quarterback Breccan Berns to put the Hawks up 22-6.

The Trojans responded with a 5-yard TD pass from Ted Landgraf to Andres Castaneda but a failed two-point conversion left MHS down 22-12.

Mendota appeared poised to recapture the momentum when Parker Guelde bounced on an Oregon fumble in Oregon territory.

However, after initially ruling it was MHS ball, the referees said there was an inadvertent whistle and replayed the down.

The Hawks capitalized when Rice broke several tackles en route to a 31-yard touchdown run for a 30-12 lead with 9:46 left.

“We had the chance to get the ball back and there was an inadvertent whistle,” Hill said. “(Nine) plays later, they break one on third down. The highs and lows of turnovers can affect you. We have to do a better job of moving on to the next play.”

The Trojans turned to their passing game to rally.

Mendota struck quickly when Landgraf hooked up with Castaneda for a 21-yard score with 7:50 left.

After the Hawks ate up more than six minutes on a 12-play drive that ended on a fourth down interception by Anthony Childs, MHS took over at its own 20 with 1:18 left.

Behind Landgraf’s arm and a roughing the passer penalty, Mendota had third-and-goal from the 4.

Landgraf took the snap, handed the ball to Uzi Angulo who flipped it to Magallanes coming the other way. Magallanes stopped and threw it to Landgraf for a 4-yard TD pass with 7.1 seconds left.

“It was being willing to open it up and let our quarterback make some decisions and throw the ball,” Hill said. “He made some nice choices with that. Being able to go at a faster pace helped us.”

Oregon recovered Mendota’s onside kick and took a knee for it’s first win.

Rice finished with 129 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, while Berns ran for 103 yards and a pair of TDs, including a 1-yarder to cap Oregon’s 13-play, 7:26 opening drive.

“I thought it was a pretty darn good game between hard nosed programs,” said Schneiderman, whose team rushed for 296 yards on 46 attempts. “I thought we came out and started the game off real well, but again, we’re having mental mistakes. We keep having these hiccups and we have to cut those out.”

For Mendota (0-2), Landgraf threw for 155 yards and a pair of TDs, ran for 39 yards and a score – to cap Mendota’s 17-play, 8:46 opening drive – and caught a TD pass.

“We expected to improve on the North Boone game,” Hill said. “There was a lot of first game stuff. A lot of hesitant players and wild decision making. That was significantly better tonight.”