Pacifica running back Zack Dickison picks up a gain as teammate RJ Massie-Reynolds provides the block during the third quarter of the Mariners league game against Northwood. (PHOTOS: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).
With both Northwood and Pacifica football teams coming off opening week losses in Iota League play, Friday night’s league game had added importance.
Zack Dickison and Joseph Pham-Ngoy each scored two touchdowns as Pacifica overcame a double-digit deficit in the second half to record a 31-24 victory over the Twolves at Portola before a Northwood Homecoming crowd.
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“We did not play sound football to our standard in the first-half,” said Dickison, who rushed for 87 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns. “We gave up more points that we have been averaging, but we woke up in the second half and focused.”
Things looked bleak for the Mariners (6-1, 1-1) to start the second half.
Trailing 14-7, Pacifica turned the ball over on the opening drive of the second-half at their 30-yard line. Northwood moved down to the 6-yard line, but had to settle for a Dillan Low field goal and increased its lead to 17-7.
The Mariners responded on their ensuing possession marching 80 yards in six plays, highlighted by two long pass plays from Pham-Ngoy to Max Salas and Jackson Delight. Pham-Ngoy capped the drive with a 1-yard TD run, cutting the lead to 17-14 with 5:17 to play in the third quarter.
“We had too many penalties and mistakes in the first-half but in the second-half we didn’t worry about our past mistakes, we kept focusing on the next play,” said Pham-Ngoy, who rushed for 101 yards, including an 80-yard TD run in the second quarter that gave Pacifica a 7-0 lead. “That touchdown run felt really awesome.”
The Mariners surprised the Twolves (3-4, 0-2) and recovered the following kickoff and quickly marched down to the Northwood 1-yard. However, Pacifica was penalized and had to settle for a Beckett Bernhard 22-yard field goal, tying the score at 17-17 with 51 seconds remaining in the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the bottom started to fall out on Northwood. On consecutive series the Twolves fumbled the ball and the Mariners recovered both times and converted both opportunities into touchdowns.
One play after Pacifica defensive back Max Salas recovered a fumble, Dickison scored on a 2-yard touchdown run, propelling the Mariners to a 24-17 lead.
Moments later, following a fumble recovery by senior defensive lineman Robert Barnhard, Dickison scampered into the end zone from 18 yards for a touchdown, upping Pacifica’s lead to 31-17 with 5:48 to play.
The Twolves countered quickly and trimmed the lead to 31-24 following a 29-yard TD pass from Caden Jacobs to Bert Chubb with 2:35 to play.
However Northwood ran out of timeouts and the Mariners were able to run out the clock. On the final play of the game, Salas took a snap on a fourth-down play in Pacifica’s territory and ran around until the final seconds ticked off the clock.
“The two fumbles in the fourth quarter turned the tide of the game,” said Salas. “It gave us energy and we took advantage of it.”
“We did not play well in the first half, but we found a way to win and that’s what good teams do,” said Pacifica Coach Kyle Murphy. “There’s no such thing as a bad win. We responded in the second half.”
Twolves coach Stephen Barbee credited Pacifica.
“We’re disappointed but my hat is off to Pacifica; they’re a good team,” said Barbee. “Our execution spoke for itself.”
Northwood committed four turnovers in the game.
Twenty-seven seconds after the Mariners took a 7-0 lead in the second quarter, the Twolves countered. Jacobs tossed a perfectly placed pass over the middle to wide receiver Bert Chubb who displayed exceptional speed as he raced away from several defenders into the end zone from 54 yards to tie the score at 7-7 with 9:32 to play in the half.
Later in the quarter, Northwood went on a 10-play, 67-yard scoring drive to take a a 14-7 lead. Sophomore running back Peyton Lynch had several key runs to spark the Twolves march. Jacobs capped the drive with a 5-yard quarterback keeper and the Twolves took a 14-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.
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