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October 23, 2009 |
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Muslim runs wild to spur Dragons 28-20 comeback win over El Molino
Ray Sullivan Jr. | Sonoma Valley Sun
Entering Friday’s Sonoma County League game against the El Molino Lions, sophomore tailback Yahya Muslim had already established himself as one of the fastest backs in the Sonoma County League.
Following the Sonoma Dragons 28-20 come-from-behind victory on the soggy Forestville turf, Muslim solidified his status as one of the top players in the Redwood Empire.
Muslim ran for 214 yards on the night, none more important than his 77-yard third quarter dash to the end zone that rescued the Dragons from a 20-14 deficit. Faced with third and thirteen following a procedure penalty, coach Mick O’Meara elected to go with an option play and after taking the pitch from senior quarterback Steven Murden, Muslim raced through and around the Lion defenders for the go-ahead score that quieted the El Molino crowd.
The Lions fans had become invigorated by their team’s rally from a 14-point deficit to take a 20-14 lead early in the third quarter. The Dragons built a 14-0 first half lead behind Murden’s 20-yard scoring toss to fellow senior Tyler Rose and a 35-yard Muslim run.
El Molino scored late in the second quarter and then added a pair of touchdown passes in the second half to take the lead.
O’Meara was more concerned with the late second-quarter score by the Lions than he was with the soggy turf, stating “In the future we have to do a little better job than we did right before halftime, but the field conditions were fine.”
Senior defensive ends Charlie Watson and Stephen Brooks combined for five sacks to lead the defense, but both found El Molino’s quarterback Mike Pearson to be elusive target en route to 286 yards passing on the night.
“He was eluding me during the night, but getting that last sack felt good,” said Brooks.
Watson echoed his classmate’s thoughts.
“It was muddy, and kind of hard to cut, and he was fast so it felt good to get to him,” said Watson. Junior linebacker Sean Daly led the dragons with 10 tackles.
The Dragons league mark improved to 1-2 with the win (3-4 overall) and sets up a gauntlet of offensive opponents for the three remaining contest, lead by tonight’s opponent Casa Grande.
The Gauchos (5-1, 1-1 SCL) are coming off of a 37-7 trouncing of Analy, but are still stinging from a SCL-opening loss to rival Petaluma 40-14 on Oct. 10. The Gauchos come in averaging 28 points a game and feature a top passer in junior Nick Sherry (6-5, 215, 192 yards passing per game) and two feature-quality backs in senior Kahlil Keys (5-11, 200, 17 yards rushing per game) and junior Javonnie Oden (5-10, 165, 5.36 yards per carry).
Defensive coordinator Mike Mulas attributed El Molino’s offensive success to the Dragon defense making mental mistakes, but realizes that casa Grande may be operating a completely different level.
“They (Casa Grande) are a very good football team. Defensively, we’re going to have our hands full,’ said Mulas.
The Dragons must also eliminate turnovers to keep close to the Gauchos, a factor not lost on Mulas.
“If we can eliminate our mistakes, I think our guys can compete with anyone on our schedule,” said Mulas.
SCL Standings As of October 22, 2009
Team SCL Overall % PF PA Streak
Petaluma 2-0 6-0 1.000 205 60 6 W
Windsor 2-0 6-1 0.857 120 98 6 W
Healdsburg 2-1 5-2 0.714 167 83 1 L
Casa Grande 1-1 5-1 0.833 168 116 1 W
Sonoma Valley 1-2 3-4 0.429 124 128 1 W
Analy 1-2 5-3 0.625 216 139 2 L
El Molino 0-3 2-5 0.286 131 213 3 L
PF = points or
PA = points against
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