Football Swats Hornets in 2002 Home Opener

Saturday, September 7

Saint Mary's Stadium

1:00 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

Sacramento St

Football Swats Hornets in 2002 Home Opener

9/7/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football

Sept. 7, 2002

Final Stats

Moraga, CA - The Saint Mary's football team (1-1) defeated Sacramento State (0-2), 20-12, in the 2002 home opener for the Gaels. The victory over the Hornets marks the first in five years and just the fifth time in 15 tries. Leading the way for the Gaels was junior All-American safety, Weston Borba who tallied 14 tackles to keep the Hornets out of the end zone. Freshman quarterback Trevor Johnston rushed for over 100 yards for the second straight game to open his collegiate career.

With Saint Mary's leading 17-12 late in the fourth quarter, Johnston found wide receiver Nate Brown on a crucial 3rd and 13 play to keep the final SMC drive alive. A delay of game penalty moved SMC back to its own 42-yard line before Johnston hit Brown for a 23-yard gain. From there, Saint Mary's marched to the Hornet 2-yard line where place kicker Ezequiel Arevalo hit his second field goal of the game, from 18 yards out, to give the Gaels a 20-12 lead with 26 seconds remaining in the game. A last chance hail mary by Sacramento State's Ryan Leadingham was knocked down as time ran out on the Hornets.

Critical plays kept the Gaels ahead in the game all day. With Saint Mary's leading 17-6, Sacramento State faked a field goal on a fourth and goal from the SMC 9-yard line. Weston Borba forced Tyronne Gross out of bounds on the 3-yard line to keep the SMC lead at nine points. Late in the second quarter, a Gael fumble, that was recovered by Sacramento State, was nullified due to a personal foul on the Hornets. Two plays later, receiver Nate Brown connected with wide out Jeff Brown on a 21-yard touchdown pass to give the Gaels a 10-6 lead at halftime.

The visiting Hornets got on the scoreboard first, as Leadingham led Sacramento State on an 8-play, 64-yard touchdown drive. The drive ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Fred Amey giving Sacramento State a 6-0 lead with 3:15 remaining in the first quarter. The Gaels answered with a 26-yard field goal by Arevalo to cut the Hornet lead to 6-3 with 2:21 remaining in the first half. Saint Mary's took the lead on its final drive of the first half, on the pass from Brown to Brown.

In the second half Saint Mary's extended its lead to 17-6 when Johnston scored on a run from 19 yards out. Scoring drive for the Gaels covered 67 yards in nine plays, giving SMC an 11-point advantage with 6:44 remaining in the third quarter. Sacramento State answered on its first drive of the fourth quarter when Leadingham found Kenan Smith on a 20-yard scoring strike to cut the lead to 17-12. The 2-point attempt failed as Sacramento State tried to cut the lead to three points.

Borba led all players in the game with 14 total tackles, 10 solo stops and four assisted. He came up big on the fake field goal and also recorded his first sack of the season. Johnston topped the 100-yard mark for the second straight game, rushing with a game-high 105 yards. He also completed 4-of-9 passes for 57 yards. Clint Wilson had 89 yards on the ground and Andre Coleman had 67 yards rushing. As a team the Gaels rushed for 285 yards and posted 361 yards of total offense.

Leadingham was 21-for-32 for 234 yards passing with two touchdown tosses. Fred Amey led the Hornets with six catches for 55 yards and one touchdown and Garrett White led the team with 59 yards on the ground.

Saint Mary's will return to action on Saturday, September 14 when the Gaels battle the Bucknell Bison. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 PM in Saint Mary's Stadium.