On a foggy day in Daly City, the Pacifica Islanders were bitten by the North Bay Rattlers for their first loss of the season, 17-7.
The Islanders won the opening coin toss and elected to receive the ball. The Rattlers kicked an onside kick and recovered the ball to put the Islanders off-balance for the rest of the day.
This game featured the Islanders’ Northern California Football League leading offense against the Rattlers league-leading defense to make for a hard-fought contest.
Rattlers’ running back Joe Ramos scored first on a long running play up the middle in the first quarter to take the lead, while avoiding the clutches of several Islander defenders. The Islander opponent scored again on a field goal by their kicking specialist Scotty McKeon for a 10-0 lead.
Coach Tom Piccolotti regrouped his troops and started marching down the field. The Islander quick-strike offense, led by Joshua Fale, took an end-around to the left side of the field but found nothing but a wall of Rattlers that were ready to spit their venom. Fale escaped their fangs by reversing his field and taking it in for a touchdown run of 45 yards. Kicker Doug Fletcher kicked the extra point to help the Islanders take control of the momentum of the game going into half time.
The second half began with the Islanders kicking off to the Rattlers. The Islanders’ defense held the snakes, and they punted. Islander quarterback Myles Gates started executing his NCFL leading offense and started driving down the field when he was injured on a quarterback draw. He sat out the rest of the game.
Reserve Islander quarterback Andrew Bettencourt took over and began completing passes all over the field. Bettencourt is more of a pocket passer, unlike Gates who takes off running when his receivers are covered. Both team’s defenses intercepted their signal callers’ strikes, including Islander NCFL leading defensive back Thad Vinson who intercepted a Rattler pass attempt when his team needed one.
Bettencourt took over and was sacked, and fumbled the ball, which was picked up by a Rattler defender and taken in for a touchdown for the final score.
The Islanders will be looking to have their ticket punched for a victory against the Nor-Cal Lawmen at 6:30 p.m. in Pittsburgh on Saturday.
