Losses within close range of opponents continue to haunt the Gavilan Rams football squad.
After seven-point setbacks to American River and Cabrillo, the Rams concluded a 2-3 pre-conference schedule Saturday with a 26-21 defeat to the host Sacramento City Panthers.
"We did a lot of good stuff," Gavilan coach John Lango said. "We rallied for one touchdown in the last five minutes, then had a good defensive series and a final chance to win. We had a fourth down pass knocked away in the end zone in the closing seconds."
Sacramento City, at 2-4 heading into Mid-Empire action, needed just 96 seconds to take a 7-0 lead. Quarterback Josh Boudreaux found Eric McGinnis open from 53 yards out for the early cushion.
Gavilan was able to draw even when Nick Kalantari scored on a 1-yard plunge with 9:26 left in the opening quarter. Tim Harvey set up the 11-yard scoring drive by blocking a Panther punt. Michael Blewett converted the point-after kick.
The Panthers took care of all the scoring in the second quarter, including a touchdown in the closing seconds.
Boudreaux connected with McGinnis for a go-ahead score with 11:25 left in the half. Derek Carothers' point-after try failed, leaving the Panthers up 13-7.
Boudreaux then converted a third-and-goal play at the Ram 13 to produce a 19-7 lead. Boudreaux scrambled before finding Ian Brown open for the touchdown with two seconds left. The Panther two-point try failed.
Tim Lango scored from one yard out on the first Ram series of the second half, leaving Gavilan down 19-14. Sacramento City countered with a 22-yard pass from Boudreaux to Jonathan Krebs with 35 seconds left in the third quarter for a 26-14 lead.
Matt McCoy then turned a swing pass from Kalantari into a 16-yard scoring play when the fullback jumped over two defenders at the goal line with 4:33 to play. Blewett's point-after left the Rams down by five.
Gavilan stopped the Panthers at the Ram 35 with 2:50 left, then reached the 8-yard line before giving up the ball on downs in the closing seconds.
"I'm proud how hard the players battled in the second half," Lango said. "Sacramento City was huge in the offensive line, but we made some big stops late to set up one last drive."
The Rams will now look to even their record by beginning Coast Conference play Saturday at 1 p.m. at DeAnza.
Bob Burch Bob Burch covers sports for South Valley Newspapers.
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Best in the bus business, again
