Raul Flores Express-News Staff Writer
Publication: San Antonio Express-News
Date: December 2, 1990
Page: 1C
The unlikely one got the ball. And the result was a 17-yard touchdown run on a bootleg by quarterback David Sammon with 2:09 left that lifted Marshall past Pharr-San Juan-Alamo, 20-14, in Class 5A regional playoffs Saturday night.
Relying on the running trio of V.J. Villarreal, Anthony Holmes and Nick Monreal to reach the playoffs, Marshall’s trick play that sent Sammon around the left side for the winning score drew thunderous roars from the sellout crowd of 9,788 fans at Northside Stadium. The Rams had all but assured themselves of a state quarterfinal berth moments earlier when Nick Monreal barreled past the P-SJ-A 20-yard line on a fourth-and-one situation, giving the Rams a 3-2 advantage in penetrations.
Marshall, 10-3, faces Judson in the state quarterfinals and for the mythical city championship at 2 p.m. Saturday at Alamo Stadium. The Bears’ season ended at 11-2.
For a while Saturday night, many wondered if Judson would be named the city champion by default as the Rockets had advanced Friday with a 33-7 rout of Victoria. P-SJ-A marched 80 yards in 15 plays to tie the game at 14 on a 17-yard jaunt and two-point conversion run by Mike Navarro with 5:32 left. The drive left both teams with two penetrations apiece, and the Bears held a 17-10 advantage in first downs, the second tie-breaker in the event of a tie.
Marshall took over at its own 34-yard line, needing to score or at least cross the P-SJ-A 20-yard line to claim the edge in penetrations. After a 2-yard run by Holmes, Sammon connected with Brandon Kittlitz for a 34-yard pickup to the Bears’ 30. Three plays later, following a nine-yard sweep by Villarreal, Monreal plunged up the middle for a 4-yard pickup to the P-SJ-A 17. “All I could think about was holding the ball,” Monreal said. “I think the big play was the pass. That big gain on the pass really gave us a lot of confidence.”
On the final touchdown, Sammon faked a handoff to Villarreal and swept to the left on his way into the end zone.
John Puffer, who had nailed the PAT after Marshall’s two earlier touchdowns, saw his kick sail wide left after holder Mark Futschik had trouble with the snap. Marshall held the 20-14 advantage. But P-SJ-A quarterback Hector Ayala, who came in with more than 2,000 yards passing this season, still had two minutes to work with. Rams’ defensive back Todd Siebert put a quick end to that notion, picking off a pass at the Marshall 44 on P-SJ-A’s first play of its next-to-last possession. After Marshall was forced to punt, the Bears took over with 20 seconds left, but their final prayer resulted in another interception by Siebert his city-leading 10th of the year.
“Our defense came through when we needed it to,” Marshall coach David Visentine said. “They (Bears) were hard to stop. We’re very fortunate to win this one because I think they had the better statistics.” The Marshall defense, paced by Jason Mays, Matt Cate, Carl Junek, Henry Kalowkowski, Tim Woods, Siebert and Futschik, came up with big plays time after time.
The Rams stopped P-SJ-A’s attempt for a penetration at the Marshall 21 late in the second quarter when Ayala was chased out of the pocket and threw an incomplete pass on fourth down. P-SJ-A had 233 yards of total offense to Marshall’s 232.
“We just didn’t execute tonight,” P-SJ-A coach Gil Garza said. “We had been doing really well in the playoffs at not turning the ball over. Turnovers cost us the game tonight.” Tim Woods’ recovery of a fumble by Ayala when he was sacked by Steve Griffey at the Bears’ 23, set up Marshall’s second TD. Three plays later, Monreal busted in from a yard out, extending Marshall’s lead to 14-6 with 8:58 left in the first half. Monreal scored two minutes earlier on a 6-yard run straight up the middle that put Marshall up 7-6.
