Mistakes cost Tornadoes in 13-9 loss

FREMONT - Too many mistakes in a rivalry game.It was also a debut between two starting quarterbacks Breylen Garza for Fremont Ross and Logan Gooding for Columbian.The Tornadoes couldn't catch a break and fell to the Little Giants 13-9 at Don Paul Stadium in Fremont Friday in non-conference play."They got the momentum early on," Columbian coach Judd Lutz said. "We didn't flinch, and we bounced back on offense, defense and special teams, but ultimately, you have to find a way to get things done and we just couldn't do that."TC (0-1) ran into trouble from the start. Gooding was sacked from the 27 yard line down to the nine yard line on a third-and-seven situation. After Connor Reese punted, Ross (1-0) took advantage. Stephen Reiter converted a third-and-four from the 11 into a touchdown, putting them on the board first.The extra point was good, putting Ross ahead 7-0."It's two great programs going at it," Ross coach Chad Long said. "It's how it goes. There wasn't a lot of scoring and it was all about who was going to break."At the end of the first quarter, the Little Giants made a mistake that took a two minute drive from 5:51 to 3:02 and tipped it in favor of the Tornadoes. Ross ended up with a holding penalty and Bryce Shiets fumbled the ball.That gave TC just enough time. On a third-and-five at the 39 yard line, Gooding threw the ball to Johnny Bremyer for 29 yards, and three plays later, the quarter ended. The Tornadoes would finish the run in the second quarter when Masen Seitz ran in on a direct snap from the 1-yard line, and Reese's point after attempt was good."Columbian was able to move the ball against our defense," Long said. "And I believe our defense is one of the best defense's we have had since I have been here. They knew we were going to chew the clock."Ross didn't want the game to remain tied. After forcing the Tornadoes to punt after a failed attempt to convert a fourth down at the 4:02 mark, the Little Giants went on a 10-play drive across the field. With two seconds left and a second down at the eight yard line, Garza hit Reiter with an eight-yard throw into the end zone.Gooding hit DaShawn Russell with a slant pass for 15 yards when they were at the 23 yard line, moving the ball within field goal range to the eight. Seitz carried it for a total of three yards before Gooding tried to hit Bremyer for a pass that was incomplete at the five, and Gooding took matters into his own hands. He ran it for four and a half yards on a fourth down, but it wasn't enough to get into the end zone. The only mercy shown to TC was on a safety. TC originally had the ball on Fremont's 25 yard line, a pass from Gooding to Bremyer was intercepted by Mason Englund at the two yard line. Ross couldn't move it past the two yard line, tried as they might, and the coaching staff made the decision to have Garza move out the back of the end zone to give TC the two point safety."We wanted to make sure they couldn't try for a field goal at that point," Long said. "We looked at the field position, and we would rather take the chance of a safety. We trusted our kick team to run down."The Tornadoes turned it over one more time."Logan is kicking himself," Lutz said. "He missed some and didn't give our guys a chance to get some. We have to hurry up and get it fixed though and he knows that urgency. We know that he will do that, and he did some really great things. He had some great throws, and did some scrambles."Lutz knows that coming up against a tough Mansfield Senior team next week will be a test."We have to get it done," Lutz said. "We have to get better, and they are going to be hungry, especially with them having a new head coach. We have to come out and execute at a high level."