SCORING SUMMARY
Nevada Union 0 20 6 7 — 33
East Union 14 14 0 0 — 28
First quarter
E — David Flores 4 run (Dylan Lee run), 9:04.
E — Flores 1 run (run fail), 4:01.
Second quarter
N — Maddox Graves 5 run (Brett Cota kick), 11:54.
E — Emilio Perez Jr. 29 run (run fail), 6:29.
N — Brett Cota 61 pass from Graves (kick fail), 6:10.
N — Andrew Webster 3 run (Cota kick), 3:34.
E — Perez Jr. 1 run (Lee run), 0.0.
Third quarter
N — Clay Renner 30 interception return (kick fail), 3:20.
Fourth quarter
N — Andrew Webster 35 pass from Graves (Cota kick), 10:18.
So close.
East Union took over on its 4-yard line with 3:52 left in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV first-round playoff game Friday night trailing Nevada Union by five points. The No. 6 Lancers drove down to the 11th-seeded Miners 25 where Dylan Lee’s pass to Ace Avelar was picked off in the end zone, allowing Nevada Union to run the clock out for the 33-28 win out at Dino Cunial Field.
“We preached playing the next play,” East Union coach Mike Kuhlenz said. “They proved that by going down the field on that last drive but we came up a little short. I am super, super bummed out for my guys.”
The Miners (5-6) of Grass Valley fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter due to a pair of touchdowns by David Flores (17 carries, 126 yards), but Nevada Union knows how to bounce back. After a four-game mid-season losing streak where they were outscored 171-38, Friday night was the third straight win for the Miners.
“We have a great group of kids here,” Nevada Union coach Brad Sparks said. “We had a four-game losing streak and these kids have bounced back. We are turning things around.
“I’m really proud of our program, our school and our community. The kids played hard. I am proud of them.”
Emilio Perez Jr. (11 carries, 72 yards) scored two touchdowns in the second period for the Lancers (4-7) and helped East Union stake a 28-20 halftime lead.
The senior Lee (seven carries, 59 yards) and freshman Kirk Simoni (14 of 23 passing, two interceptions) took turns running the offense and came close to pulling of the come-from-behind win.
“The team worked hard all year,” Lee said. “We got better every game but it was rough.
“There were a lot of ups and downs.”
Defensive lineman Clay Renner batted down a Simoni pass in the third quarter and returned it 30 yards to bring the Miners to within 28-26. Andrew Webster pulled in a 35-yard scoring pass from Maddox Graves (11 of 15 passing, 210 yards, two touchdowns; 14 carries, 46 yards, touchdown) with 10 minutes left in the game to put Nevada Union ahead for good at 33-28.
The loss ended the season for the Lancers, and while replacing program stalwart Lee will be a tall order, Kuhlenz is optimistic for East Union’s future.
“We were mixing Kirk Simoni and Dylan Lee in at quarterback,” Kuhlenz said. “He (Simoni) is only going to get better. This was a great experience for him. We brought up (freshman) Jackson Fay and he caught a couple of passes tonight.
“This one is going to sting for a little bit, but we’re excited to get back to work. We have a good freshman group, we have some key pieces as juniors that are going to be coming back, and we had some sophomores that started the whole season for us. We just have to get better day by day.”
