Prep Football: Tam flying high after season

Players of the Tam High football team entered their season opener Saturday with a lot to prove — to league rivals, to the North Coast Section, and most especially to themselves.

“This is the best feeling in the world,” Tam High senior receiver Andrew Gordon said after the Hawks’ rollercoaster 27-21 victory over Bishop O’Dowd in Mill Valley. “We have tons of momentum now. The sky’s our ceiling.”

Tam narrowly missed the playoffs last season, so when the final whistle sounded Saturday the Hawks celebrated their first step back toward the postseason with a mixture of joy, pride and sheer relief. Tam is still putting the pieces together to be a playoff contender, but the Hawks are off to a good start.

Tam’s special teams unit allowed two touchdowns, but the defense came up with three big interceptions and seven sacks, with junior John Welborn registering two sacks and four total tackles. Leon Tierney and Caden Berringer had six tackles each and Alex Christopher, Jake Son, Matteo Pardi, Louis Armour had five tackles each. David Anderson had two sacks.

“Everyone played their hearts out,” said an emotional Welborn. “I know I could have been more technical, maybe gotten some more technicals, but we still did a great job as a team.”

The Hawks had to shake off a case of jitters as the season and the game kicked off. The Dragons’ big receiver Bobby Boyd III returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown, a nightmare come true for the Hawks.

“All week, we’ve been telling the kids you can never be too high and you can never be too low,” Tam coach Matthew LemMon said. “So when something like that happens, it can’t be just a collapse. You’ve got to get steady. I think coming back and scoring some points helped us a little bit. I think they did a great job responding.”

The Red-tailed Hawks were playing off their heels early in Saturday’s season opener before recovering their footing with a 27-0 run that included two touchdowns by Gordon, who caught seven passes for 74 yards.

“I was nervous last night looking toward this game,” said Tam senior Jake Son, who turned in a spectacular effort on both sides of the ball with 107 combined yards on nine carries and three catches, plus an interception he returned for 60 yards. “But we did a good job coming out with energy and playing all in.”

Tam’s first drive of the season started deep in its own zone, but senior running back Connor Weisberg took the spotlight as the Hawks moved the ball downfield. Weisberg pushed the ball across the goal line from 2 yards out to cut the score to 7-6. The point after attempt into a strong wind veered wide left.

Senior quarterback Braden Young showed his maturity as he went 17 for 23 for 223 yards and avoided throwing any interceptions despite constant pressure from a powerful Dragons line. Young kept Tam’s offense rolling with back-to-back scoring strikes to Gordon.

Young found Gordon dashing across midfield for a 23-yard scoring play with less than a minute left in the first half to put the Hawks ahead. A two-point pass to Son stamped the Hawks’ 14-7 lead.

Son’s 45-yard kickoff return to start the second half gave the Hawks a short field to work with. On a second-and-10 play from the Dragons’ 35, Young heaved the ball for Gordon, who leapt to catch the ball, then rolled over the back of the defender for a 20-yard reception. A penalty pushed Tam backward before Young targeted Gordon again, this time for a 20-yard touchdown play and a 20-7 lead.

Son’s interception return nearly went for a touchdown before he was stopped 2 yards short of the goal line. Penalties again pushed Tam backward, but junior Ethan Koo covered the 11 yards for a 27-7 Tam lead with 5:59 left in the third quarter.

Koo and Weisberg shouldered the bulk of the rushing game. Koo led the Hawks with 15 carries for 84 yards, while Weisberg ran 70 yards on 15 carries.

Senior Lachlan Hindley was a big target for Young, as he caught six passes for 108 yards, including a 50 yard reception.

As the fourth quarter opened, the Hawks might have been looking forward to a postgame celebration, but the Dragons had them looking over their shoulders. Bishop O’Dowd took control of the ball on Tam’s 37 yard line after Young was sacked. The Dragons, in a hurry-up offense, quickly scored their first touchdown since the first play of the game.

Bishop O’Dowd’s vaunted defense took advantage of a spotty Tam special teams unit with a blocked punt deep in the Hawks’ territory. The ball rolled into the end zone and the Dragons smothered the ball for a touchdown, suddenly turning a rout into a one-score game with 3:35 left to play.

Tam played out the clock during its final possession, desperate to keep the ball out of the Dragons’ hands.

“We’ve got a lot to work on before next week,” said LemMon, whose Hawks play at Northgate in Walnut Creek on Friday.

BOD 7 0 0 14 – 21

Tam 6 8 13 0 – 27

B – Boyd 80 kickoff return (kick good)

T – Weisberg 2 run (kick fail)

T – Gordon 23 pass from Young (Son pass from Young)

T – Gordon 20 pass from Young (Young pass fail)

T – E. Koo 11 run (kick good)

B – Wilson 7 pass (kick good)

B – Turner blocked punt (kick good)

RUSHING – Tam, E. Koo 15-84, Weisberg 15-70, Son 9-67, Young 1-6. Totals: 40-227.

PASSING – Tam, Young 17-23-0 223.

RECEIVING – Tam, Hindley 6-108, Gordon 7-74, Son 3-40, Koo 1-1. Totals: 17-223.

Records–Tam 1-0, Bishop O’Dowd 0-1