DUBLIN – California kept one step ahead of host Dublin throughout its 30-20 victory Friday evening.
The No. 7 team in the Bay Area News Group rankings took a 13-0 lead in the first quarter and never trailed, although Dublin (4-2) cut the advantage to 20-14 at halftime.
But California scored the first 10 points of the second half to take charge.
After halftime, the Grizzlies (5-0) stopped Dublin twice on fourth-down plays inside their own territory. On the first one, Brodie Bamer, a sophomore outside linebacker called up to varsity this week, made a tackle for a seven-yard loss. The second one occurred inside Cal’s 10-yard-line.
“Our defense just stepped up,” California coach Danny Calcagno said. “They only gave up really two touchdowns against a pretty explosive offense.”
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California’s offense found the end zone four times. Grizzlies quarterback Teddy Booras threw two touchdown passes and ran for one. The other score was delivered by Trevor Rund on a 33-yard run.
The Grizzlies had a lot of success both throwing and running the ball.
Booras completed 16 of his 21 pass attempts for 205 yards. Teammate Jake Calcagno had 10 of those receptions for 143 yards, including a 23-yard catch and run to open the scoring just two minutes, 30 seconds into the game. Throughout it, Calcagno showed his outstanding ability to use the field near the sidelines for catches with sublime footwork.
“Footwork … it’s a big part of my game, especially being like a smaller receiver,” said the 6-foot, 160-pound senior. “That’s kind of how I can take the advantage on DB’s.”
Rund was the closer for the Grizzlies. He ran on six of the final eight plays of the game, notching 36 yards and finishing with a game-high 107.
A 12-yard TD pass from Booras to Hunter Holmes helped give Cal its 13-0 advantage, but Dublin struck on the first play of the second quarter when Brandon Burns returned a Booras interception 35 yards for a touchdown. Cal answered with a 65-yard drive ending on a five-yard TD run up the middle by Booras, but Dublin replied with a 75-yard drive of its own, ending on a two-yard scoring run by Gary Cabida, as the Gaels entered halftime trailing by just six points.
But that would be the closest Dublin would get. Rund’s TD run helped put Cal’s advantage back to two touchdowns, and a 32-yard field goal by the Grizzlies’ Macray Madruga increased the lead to 30-13.
Dublin then gave itself some hope with a 61-yard scoring drive, capped by an 8-yard run by Burns with 5:55 left. But a two-point conversion pass attempt failed, and the Gaels’ offense never got the ball back.
The Gaels’ Jayden Petrus rushed for a team-high 96 yards. Quarterback Anthony Armendariz completed 12 of his 17 pass attempts for 143 yards.
