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Pleasant Grove capitalizes on turnovers for road win
  
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By Jon Gudel - Sports Editor
The realization that the Pleasant Grove High School football program must prove itself again this season doesn’t bother head coach Joe Cattolico. In fact, he agrees with that theory.
Even some of the players, despite losing just two games last season and claiming the program’s first-ever league title, feel they enter the 2008 season as underdogs. It’s a mentality that most teams use as motivation.
If so, Pleasant Grove used it to its advantage last Friday in the season opener against Franklin. Two costly turnovers by Franklin also aided Pleasant Grove’s quest to remind the Sac-Joaquin Section that they reached the second round of the playoffs and went 10-2 overall in only the program’s second varsity season.
Pleasant Grove scored 12 points off those turnovers and also sacked Franklin quarterback Adam Kennedy twice on the final drive to seal an 18-14 road win at Cosumnes River College.
“It’s a great test for both teams,” said Catollico, referring to a season opener with two expected playoff contenders. “It was a great high school football game. I thought it was two good football teams. Neither of us are polished yet.
“We are happy with our team,” he added. “We tip our hat to them. They are a good football team. I told (Franklin head coach) Brian (Prahl) that I hope we don’t see them again, or at least that we are on opposite sides of the brackets in the playoffs. That is a good team over there.”
The fact that Pleasant Grove sports a “good” team this season might be a surprise to those outside the program. With the departures of Armond Armstead and Deonte Williams, arguably the two most notable athletes in school history, many felt the program would take a step back this season.
Pleasant Grove cleared the first obstacle.
But there was mention of Armstead and Williams and the perceived lack of respect for Pleasant Grove.
“We had to prove to our ourselves that we could win because everybody has us as the underdogs,” said senior running Michael Madkins, who ran for a game-high 118 yards and scored two touchdowns. “Without Armond and Deonte, people thought we weren’t going to be that good. We wanted to prove that we are a good team.”
Cattolico said the uncertainties of his program are warranted.
“We got a win without the kids we had last year,” he said. “That’s the main thing for us. The mindset of everybody was it was going to be hard. I’ll be honest, it won’t be easier that’s for sure. But it says a lot about these kids. It validates that what we’ve been teaching them and all of the practices that we are doing some things right.”
It’s impossible to prove much in the first week, especially with a 10-game schedule, but Pleasant Grove did show that it had the poise of a veteran roster, rallying from a 14-6 halftime deficit to outscore Franklin 12-0 in the second half.
Neither team overwhelmed the other, and both had obvious flaws to correct this week in practice. Still, it was a viable test for both programs that had a playoff-type atmosphere on the field and a buzz throughout the overflowing crowd at CRC.
“I’m proud of our kids,” said Prahl. “They worked their butts off. We need to work on conditioning, that’s the one thing I noticed. I’ll fix that.”
Fatigue hampered Pleasant Grove’s defense as Franklin drove 78 yards for the game-winning touchdown with 3:38 left in regulation. Scott Marshall scored on a one-yard run to give Pleasant Grove an 18-14 lead.
The two-point conversion failed on Taylor Congdon’s incomplete pass.
That drive began at Pleasant Grove’s own 22 after Franklin appeared to be en route to a clinching touchdown drive of its own. Instead, Pleasant Grove recovered a Marcus Reynolds fumble and capitalized by using the running trio of Greg Williams, Madkins and Marshall to wear down Franklin’s defensive front.
“I know it sounds cliché but it’s true for our team, we try every day to get better as a football team,” said Cattolico. “We were opportunistic (tonight). We took advantage of our chances.”
Franklin’s final drive to potentially regain the lead sputtered near midfield. Despite a 17-yard run by Aaron Matthews on the first play of the drive and another first down two players later, a six-yard loss on a botched reverse and a sack of Kennedy put Franklin in an unenvied position.
Kennedy threw an incomplete pass on third down and was sacked on fourth down.
Making his first career varsity start, Kennedy completed only 2 of 9 passes for 14 yards and an interception. He also ran for a team-high 62 yards on 16 carries.
Pleasant Grove scored 12 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, including a three-run touchdown run by Madkins on the first play of the quarter.
That was Pleasant Grove’s first substantial drive of the game, considering the initial touchdown of the season came after recovering a muffed punt by Franklin’s Tyler Spriggs at his own 17. Madkins broke four tackles and galloped into the end zone on the next play.
Franklin responded by scoring the next 14 points of the first half, doing so on a five yard-run by Kenneth Hunt to cap a 12-play, 73-yard drive and a three-yard run by Erick Prudhomme with 1:12 left in the second quarter.
“The dropped punt killed us. That gave them an easy touchdown,” Prahl said. “The fumble on the drive that we should’ve scored a touchdown killed us. It’s the little things.”
Executing the “little things” typically separate the playoff teams from those staying home in November.
Even some of the players, despite losing just two games last season and claiming the program’s first-ever league title, feel they enter the 2008 season as underdogs. It’s a mentality that most teams use as motivation.
If so, Pleasant Grove used it to its advantage last Friday in the season opener against Franklin. Two costly turnovers by Franklin also aided Pleasant Grove’s quest to remind the Sac-Joaquin Section that they reached the second round of the playoffs and went 10-2 overall in only the program’s second varsity season.
Pleasant Grove scored 12 points off those turnovers and also sacked Franklin quarterback Adam Kennedy twice on the final drive to seal an 18-14 road win at Cosumnes River College.
“It’s a great test for both teams,” said Catollico, referring to a season opener with two expected playoff contenders. “It was a great high school football game. I thought it was two good football teams. Neither of us are polished yet.
“We are happy with our team,” he added. “We tip our hat to them. They are a good football team. I told (Franklin head coach) Brian (Prahl) that I hope we don’t see them again, or at least that we are on opposite sides of the brackets in the playoffs. That is a good team over there.”
The fact that Pleasant Grove sports a “good” team this season might be a surprise to those outside the program. With the departures of Armond Armstead and Deonte Williams, arguably the two most notable athletes in school history, many felt the program would take a step back this season.
Pleasant Grove cleared the first obstacle.
But there was mention of Armstead and Williams and the perceived lack of respect for Pleasant Grove.
“We had to prove to our ourselves that we could win because everybody has us as the underdogs,” said senior running Michael Madkins, who ran for a game-high 118 yards and scored two touchdowns. “Without Armond and Deonte, people thought we weren’t going to be that good. We wanted to prove that we are a good team.”
Cattolico said the uncertainties of his program are warranted.
“We got a win without the kids we had last year,” he said. “That’s the main thing for us. The mindset of everybody was it was going to be hard. I’ll be honest, it won’t be easier that’s for sure. But it says a lot about these kids. It validates that what we’ve been teaching them and all of the practices that we are doing some things right.”
It’s impossible to prove much in the first week, especially with a 10-game schedule, but Pleasant Grove did show that it had the poise of a veteran roster, rallying from a 14-6 halftime deficit to outscore Franklin 12-0 in the second half.
Neither team overwhelmed the other, and both had obvious flaws to correct this week in practice. Still, it was a viable test for both programs that had a playoff-type atmosphere on the field and a buzz throughout the overflowing crowd at CRC.
“I’m proud of our kids,” said Prahl. “They worked their butts off. We need to work on conditioning, that’s the one thing I noticed. I’ll fix that.”
Fatigue hampered Pleasant Grove’s defense as Franklin drove 78 yards for the game-winning touchdown with 3:38 left in regulation. Scott Marshall scored on a one-yard run to give Pleasant Grove an 18-14 lead.
The two-point conversion failed on Taylor Congdon’s incomplete pass.
That drive began at Pleasant Grove’s own 22 after Franklin appeared to be en route to a clinching touchdown drive of its own. Instead, Pleasant Grove recovered a Marcus Reynolds fumble and capitalized by using the running trio of Greg Williams, Madkins and Marshall to wear down Franklin’s defensive front.
“I know it sounds cliché but it’s true for our team, we try every day to get better as a football team,” said Cattolico. “We were opportunistic (tonight). We took advantage of our chances.”
Franklin’s final drive to potentially regain the lead sputtered near midfield. Despite a 17-yard run by Aaron Matthews on the first play of the drive and another first down two players later, a six-yard loss on a botched reverse and a sack of Kennedy put Franklin in an unenvied position.
Kennedy threw an incomplete pass on third down and was sacked on fourth down.
Making his first career varsity start, Kennedy completed only 2 of 9 passes for 14 yards and an interception. He also ran for a team-high 62 yards on 16 carries.
Pleasant Grove scored 12 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, including a three-run touchdown run by Madkins on the first play of the quarter.
That was Pleasant Grove’s first substantial drive of the game, considering the initial touchdown of the season came after recovering a muffed punt by Franklin’s Tyler Spriggs at his own 17. Madkins broke four tackles and galloped into the end zone on the next play.
Franklin responded by scoring the next 14 points of the first half, doing so on a five yard-run by Kenneth Hunt to cap a 12-play, 73-yard drive and a three-yard run by Erick Prudhomme with 1:12 left in the second quarter.
“The dropped punt killed us. That gave them an easy touchdown,” Prahl said. “The fumble on the drive that we should’ve scored a touchdown killed us. It’s the little things.”
Executing the “little things” typically separate the playoff teams from those staying home in November.
