Saint Mary's Falls to Sacramento State, 24-21
9/2/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Papanikolas Throws for Three Touchdowns in Opener
Moraga, CA - The Saint Mary's football team (0-1) dropped the season opener to Sacramento State (1-0), 24-21. Gael quarterback Gus Papanikolas rushed for 113 yards and was 8-for-18 for 140 yards and had three touchdowns to lead the offensive attack. Hornet running back Charles Roberts rushed for a game-high 219 yards in the victory.
Sacramento State scored on its first drive of the game when Mike Wooster scored from two yards out just 4:58 into the game. Saint Mary's answered on the ensuing drive when Papanikolas hit J.C. Serrano for a 30-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline to knot the score at 7-7 with 8:19 remaining in the first quarter. As the second quarter got underway, Roberts scampered for a 21-yard touchdown run to give the Hornets a 14-7 lead early in the quarter. Saint Mary's trailed 14-7 heading into halftime, as Chris Tucker and Reed Mokler stopped a Hornet fake field goal attempt on the five-yard line as time expired in the half.
To open the second half, the Gaels drove 76 yards in nine plays to cut the lead to 14-13. The drive was capped off by a 26-yard touchdown pass from Papanikolas to Eric Billeci just 3:45 into the half. Saint Mary's missed the point after to trail by one. Jimmy Sanchez hit a 48-yard field goal for Sacramento State to give the Hornets a 17-13 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Hornets opened the lead to 24-13 when Lamont Webb scored on a 24-yard touchdown reception from Ricky Ray with 9:48 remaining in the game. Ray finished the game 13-for-24 for 138 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 34 yards on 14 carries. With time running down, Papanikolas led the Gael offense to a nine-play, 92 yard scoring drive in just 1:08 to cut the score to 24-21 with just over a minute to play. On the ensuing kick off, the Saint Mary's on side attempt was recovered by the Hornets, to ice the game.
Freshman Clint Wilson finished as the second leading Gael rusher with 56 yards on 11 carries in his first game. Bruce Rhode was the Gaels' top receiver, pulling down two catches for 23 yards. Senior middle linebacker, Lane Baker, led the defense with nine tackles and senior Travis White had a game-high two sacks.
For the Hornets, three receivers pulled down three catches, Webb, Roberts and Scott Towne. Webb led the way with 52 yards and one touchdown reception.
Saint Mary's returns to action on Saturday, September 9 when they host Western Washington at Saint Mary's Stadium at 1:00 p.m.
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