No. 1 The King’s Academy-Sunnyvale wasn’t immune to what several secondaries have experienced this season facing Terra Nova-Pacifica’s Anthony Gordon. The Tigers’ quarterback threaded the Knights through the air, leading No. 8 Terra Nova to a 42-28 victory over the host Knights in a Central Coast Section Division IV first-round contest Friday evening.
Gordon was 25-of-38 for 412 yards, tossing five touchdown passes in one of the finer performances in CCS playoff history. Gordon has thrown for 40 touchdowns on the season.
“Terra Nova is a good offensive football team,” said TKA football coach Mike Johnson, who guided the Knights (9-2) to the Peninsula Athletic League Lake Division title. “We made too many mistakes in the secondary to keep the score down where we needed it to be. I’m proud of my team of where it has come. I wish Terra Nova nothing but the best of luck.”
The Knights made too many mistakes on offense, though all four King’s Academy touchdowns deserved style points.
Trailing 14-0 after a 40-yard TD pass from Gordon to Jordan Genato on the first play of the second quarter, TKA freshman Maurice Washington fielded the ensuing kickoff at his own 1-yard line. Washington, who quickly encountered about six Terra Nova jerseys with no blockers in sight, veered toward the TKA sideline, then turned on the jets. Washington sliced back to his left, racing past the entire Terra Nova kickoff team on his way to a 99-yard touchdown.
On second-and-9 at the Knights’ 35-yard line, Washington took a draw up the middle, broke a couple of tackles before cutting to his left. Washington could have gone down to the ground for a 24-yard gain, but he hurdled a defender, juked out two more defenders before cutting across the grain to his right, bellying back a couple of yards in doing so. Washington completed his highlight run by skating down the Terra Nova sideline for a remarkable 65-yard touchdown, putting the Knights very much in it down 28-14 with 7:43 to go in the third period.
A 50-yard kickoff return by James Wilson late in the third quarter placed the ball at the Terra Nova 48-yard line. Quarterback Dominic Sabel hit Mark Miclean for 9 yards and Derek Friske for 13 yards. On third-and-1, Sabel optioned to his left. After nearing the line of scrimmage, he threw an overhand lateral to Wilson, who took it in for a 17-yard touchdown with 10:41 remaining.
On TKA’s second to last possession, Sabel threw twice to Miclean for a combined 30 yards to midfield. Sabel then tossed to Friske in the left flat. Friske broke a tackle before speeding ahead for a 50-yard touchdown with 2:58 to play. Sabel finished 21-for-27 for 234 yards with no interceptions in his final prep game.
The Knights’ defensive front did a respectable job of pressuring Gordon, sacking him a handful of times. TKA’s Maereg Kiros had a pair of sacks. Also applying pressure were Fidel Nunez, Jaret Falkowski, sophomore Josaiah Fatuesi and Cole Hansen. Gordon had eight carries for minus-35 yards.
“Our defense played well,” Johnson said. “We gave up a couple big plays.”
Gordon, though, had plenty of chances to riddle the Knights’ secondary, throwing for TD passes of 20, 40, 70, 6 and 11 yards. The 70-yard pass to Marvin Montoya was a thing of beauty. The ball hung in the air for several seconds with three TKA defenders going after it. The ball sailed over the defenders’ heads and into the arms of Montoya, who ran it in for the score. Gordon had another touchdown to Montoya nullified by a penalty. Two other potential TDs were dropped by Terra Nova receivers. Gordon’s only blemish was getting picked off by Friske, who came up with the only turnover in the game.
The Knights shot themselves in the armor in the first half a few times. Sabel had a pass on a crossing pattern dropped that would have been about a 25-yard gain. TKA had back-to-back delay of game penalties after having a third-and-1 situation at its own 44-yard line.
Late in the first half, punter Stephen Donnelly faked a punt, but only gained 5 yards, well short of the first down. However, a personal foul call on the play moved the ball to the Terra Nova 30 yard line. Sabel, who had a few passes dropped in the game, threw an incompletion on fourth down.
“We’ll be back,” Johnson said. “We’ll bring the JV team up and keep building.”
Genato, who broke his hip in a PAL Bay Division game against Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton on Oct. 17, returned to catch seven passes for 131 yards and two TDs. Genato was one of three Terra Nova receivers with over 128 yards receiving in the game.
CCS Division IV quarterfinals
Terra Nova 7 21 14 0 — 42
King’s Academy 0 7 7 14 — 28
First Quarter
TN — Fretty 20 pass from Gordon (Grande kick) 7:01
Second Quarter
TN — Genato 40 pass from Gordon (Grande kick) 11:59
TKA — Washington 99 kickoff return (Field kick) 11:33
TN — Auelua 1 run (Grande kick) 8:05
TN — Montoya 70 pass from Gordon (Grande kick) 1:20
Third Quarter
TKA — Washington 65 run (Field kick) 7:13
TN — Genato 6 pass from Gordon (Grande kick) 4:39
TN — Viana 11 pass from Gordon (Grande kick) :25
Fourth Quarter
TKA — Wilson 17 run (Field kick) 10:40
TKA — Friske 50 pass from Sabel (Field kick) 2:58
RUSHING — Terra Nova, Gordon 8-(-35), Auelua 21-87, Colvin 5-16, Viana 1-(-2), Barnes 1-(-3). The King’s Academy, Sabel 6-(-14), Washington 8-83, Wilson 2-18, Donnelly 1-5, Bae 2-7, Miclean 1-29.
PASSING — Terra Nova, Gordon 25-38-1-412. The King’s Academy, Sabel 21-37-0-234.
RECEIVING — Terra Nova, Genato 7-131, Viana 10-132, Fretty 2-35, Montoya 6-129. The King’s Academy, Friske 4-79, Nunez 5-50, Miclean 6-71, Wilson 5-34, Washington 1-0.
Email John Reid at jreid@dailynewsgroup.com; follow him at twitter.com/dailynewsjohn.
