Statler's 318 yards, 4 TD passes leads Frontier past Garces, 29-28

Oct. 8—A tale of two halfs of football, it was fitting that Friday night's game between Garces and Frontier came down to the wire.

Leading by a point late in the fourth quarter, the Titans stopped the Rams on a two-point conversion attempt with 3:52 to play, and then moved the ball down field to run out the clock, holding on for a dramatic 29-28 victory in South Yosemite River League play.

"We hadn't really trusted in each other, believed in each other or played really good team football the last couple weeks," said Frontier coach Chris Bandy, whose team had lost two of its last three games after a 3-0 start. "And we just kept preaching that this week, and that was what was good to see is our kids really believed in each other.

"And even when they had some adversity and Garces had made some big plays and took the lead, our kids just kept playing, kept believing, and it worked. They came out on top."

Frontier junior quarterback Malakhi Statler threw for 318 yards and four touchdowns, including three in the first half to build a 21-6 lead, but Garces rallied and briefly took the lead with three scoring drives in the final 24 minutes of play.

Trailing 29-22, the Rams (1-6, 0-2) embarked on a 16-play, 61-yard drive, capped by a 12-yard scoring run by David Smith. But rather than kick the extra point to tie the game, Garces opted to go for the lead, and potential game-winner.

After a mad scramble with Rams quarterback Jordan Gallegoz narrowly avoiding defenders, he lofted the ball backwards with a desperation toss to teammate Julian Smith. Smith fielded the ball on a bounce, cut to the outside and looked to turn the corner toward the end zone. But in the process, he momentarily lost his balance and stepped on the out-of-bounds line around the 3-yard line.

Frontier (5-2, 1-0) controlled the ensuing kickoff and gained two first downs as the Rams exhausted their remaining timeouts, enabling the Titans to run out the clock.

The Rams started the game off strong. After forcing Frontier to punt on its opening possession, they moved the ball 68 yards on nine plays, with Gallegoz throwing to Cage Williams for a 6-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was blocked by John Appleton, leaving Garces with a 6-0 lead.

The Titans responded quickly with Statler avoiding the rush and finding a wide-open Mason Tapia along the Garces sideline for a 65-yard scoring play.

Statler added a 16-yard scoring pass to Devin Cockren on the first play of the second quarter, and then found Tapia again, this time for a 25-yard TD pass to build Frontier's lead to 21-6 with 6:15 left in the second quarter.

"I think offensively they do a great job of mixing in motions," said Garces coach Paul Golla. "Maybe it took us a while to adjust to that. I'm not positive. All week we looked pretty good in practice.

"But the big thing now is, our kids gotta regroup. We have three more games. And it's a decision. I know our coaches aren't going to work any less. We're battling through this thing and I hope our kids are going to go back on Monday and work to get better."

The Titans appeared ready to extend their lead late in the first half, when they moved the ball to the Garces' two-yard line on a 43-yard flea flicker from Statler to Cockren, who made one of several spectacular catches on the night. But Statler fumbled at the goal line two plays later, and the Rams recovered in the end zone with just 30 seconds left in the second quarter.

Garces continued their new-found momentum in the second half, scoring their first two drives — first on a 28-yard touchdown run by David Smith, and then after forcing a Titan punt, an 11-yard TD run by Gallegoz. RJ Green completed the 2-point conversion and Garces led briefly 22-21 with 4:55 left in the third quarter.

"I think we settled down, we started playing," said Golla of the second-half resurgence. "I don't even know, maybe our kids overlooked them because our schedule has been so hard. Watching film was a little different this week. But what they have to understand is that every team that we play is good. It's a tough league, it's a tough CIF, but I'm unbelievably proud of the second half. Our kids battled and figured it out, and slowed down."

Garces followed by recovering an onside kick, but gave the ball back three plays later when Appleton fell on a fumble by Garces sophomore Logan Slaton.

Eleven plays later, Frontier took the lead for good when Cockren made a leaping catch over a Garces defender in the back of the end zone from six yards out. The two connected again on the conversion to make it 29-22 with 10:58 to play.

"Very rarely does he not win a battle when it's a 50-50 ball," Bandy said. "He just has a knack for going to get the ball and using his body to maneuver to get the ball. Even against more athletic (defenders), he just finds a way."

Cockren had a huge night, finishing with nine catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns, with Tapia adding five receptions for 124 yards and two scores. Freshman Kobie Watson had three catches for 43 yards, and Samuel Marquez contributed a team-high 58 yards rushing and 12 carries.

"The smartest decision I ever made is not calling the offense this year," said Bandy, who has served as offensive coordinator most of his career, but relinquished that to former Ridgeview standout quarterback Tyler Ferguson this year. "The offense has been doing a great job. Coach Ferguson is doing a great job for us.

And having talented receivers doesn't hurt.

"Cockren is (so good)," Bandy said. "And Tapia has been making plays for us for three years."

Statler's fourth TD pass set the stage for a 7-minute drive by Garces, capped by Smith's second scoring run of the day on a third-and-11 play. Smith finished with a game-high 95 yards on the ground, with Slaton and Gallegoz adding 84 and 57 yards, respectively.

"This win is important," Bandy said. "We're still a young team. We have two freshmen starting and on defense we only have one senior starting, and that's kind of where we've been struggling the most. So wins like this are important for young guys, just to learn to play with more confidence."