Comeback Ties Up Alemany

The big bang for Alemany High Friday night didn’t come during it’s halftime homecoming fireworks show.

It came when St. John Bosco’s Chris Diaz intercepted a Roy Talavera pass at the Braves’ 13-yard line as Alemany was trying to pull off a last-second victory.

All Alemany (3-1-2) could do was settle for a 21-21 tie in its opening Del Rey League game. The Indians tied Los Banos in the season opener.

St. John Bosco (4-1-1) tied the score when Jim Niccoli caught a pass from Bob Jakubik on a two-point conversion with 7:28 left. The Braves had scored on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Jakubik to Mike Connolly.

“We just played a terrible game,” Alemany Coach Enrique Lopez said. “We had a lot of misreads and a lot of mistakes.”

Alemany took the lead with 9:05 to go on John Farenbaugh’s three-yard touchdown run. Chris Lobos’ point-after gave the Indians a 21-13 lead.

The difference in the game turned out to be a missed conversion kick by St. John Bosco’s Leo Byrne after Jakubik scored on a 44-yard bootleg run on the second play of the second half.

Talavera completed 15 of 23 passes for 253 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. The Braves’ defense held running back Ray Campuzano to 59 yards and 1 touchdown on 13 carries.

For the Braves, Niccoli rushed for 127 yards and 1 touchdown on 12 carries, and Jakubik completed 7 of 14 passes for 98 yards and 1 touchdown.

The Indians controlled the first half, outgaining the Braves, 224 yards to 124.

Alemany scored first when Campuzano scored on a nine-yard run on the second play of the second quarter. The touchdown was set up by Talavera passes of 28 yards to Campuzano and 29 to Jerry Edemann.

The Braves scored three downs later when Niccoli broke a tackle and sprinted down the right sideline for a 57-yard touchdown.

Alemany took a 14-7 lead on the next-to-last play of the first half when Talavera hit tight end Vince Ferry for a six-yard touchdown, capping a five-play, 55-yard drive.