Great Oak football team gets defensive in victory over Murrieta Mesa – Press Enterprise

TEMECULA — Ryder Smith and his Great Oak defensive mates really wanted that shutout.

Murrieta Mesa scored a touchdown with 2:09 remaining in the game, but that was merely a consolation prize for the Rams. Great Oak’s defense delivered another strong performance Friday evening, allowing only 115 yards and eight first downs en route to a 14-7 victory and sole possession of first place in the Big West Conference’s South Division standings.

“A little disappointed we didn’t get a shutout. But it’s alright. We’ll take the win,” said Smith, a sophomore middle linebacker. “We did a good job stopping their running game early on. And we also got lots of pressure on their quarterback tonight.”

Murrieta Mesa (2-6 overall, 2-1 in league) gained 51 of those yards and half of its first downs on that final possession.

“We just didn’t show up offensively,” Murrieta Mesa coach Oscar McBride said. “We had a lot of mental errors.”

Great Oak (5-3, 3-0) had its share struggles on offense during the game, but the Wolfpack scored on their first possession. Cole Vasquez completed four passes for 50 yards, and Tavious Truitt capped the drive with a 7-yard scoring run.

And the score remained 7-0 in favor of Great Oak until the fourth quarter.

Murrieta Mesa’s defense was equally impressive Friday, making big stops on third and fourth downs to keep things close.McBride lauded the play of freshman linebacker Chris Flores, who was filling in for the injured Luke Van den Berg.

“I think our defense was lights out,” McBride said. “But when you leave them out there for about 70 plays, things are not going to go your way at the end. They gave us every opportunity to win. We just didn’t get things going the other way.”

Great Oak eventually got its ground attack moving in the second half, with Jefferson Roberts racking up 80 yards on 14 carries following the break. The Wolfpack doubled their lead with 7:06 remaining in the game, when Vasquez connected with Jake Schuck for an 11-yard touchdown pass. Roberts opened that scoring drive with a 34-yard run.

Vasquez completed 21 of 28 passes for 239 yards, while Schuck finished the night with 10 catches for 122 yards.

“We manufactured enough offense to win, but we left a lot on the table” Great Oak coach Scott Strosnider said. “Mesa has a very good defense that comes after you… so we got the ball away quickly, and those passes were like running plays.”

Murrieta Mesa managed 21 yards on 19 carries, with only one of those running plays going for double-digit yardage.

“It starts with a good game plan, and then its about the perseverance of our kids to battle to the end,” Strosnider said.

Trey Gamble came off the bench and led Murrieta Mesa on its lone scoring drive. Gamble completed 3 of 4 passes for 38 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown to Dez’mun Franklin with 2:09 to play. The Rams attempted an onside kick, but Great Oak’s Matthew Vasquez recovered the ball. The Wolfpack ran out the remaining time on the clock.