Highlanders with big comeback win
Rehan Mumtaz scored on a 12-yard run late in the fourth quarter and then intercepted a pass to clinch the game as Piedmont High School’s boys football team beat Washington-Fremont, 39-35 at Tak Fudenna Stadium on October 24.
Mumtaz normally splits time in the backfield with Colby Hong and Xavier Henderson. But Hong was out with an injury and Henderson had to leave the game in the third quarter after a hard tackle.
That left Mumtaz to carry the load and he did it well. He rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Included in that was a 50-yard run that set up the final touchdown after the Huskies had taken a 35-32 lead.
The Highlanders (4-4, 2-1 West Alameda County Conference Mission League) jumped out to a 12-0 lead but Washington fought back. Husky running back Giovanni Scilacci-Braziel rushed for 116 yards on 19 carries. Receiver Joseph Guerra caught six passes for 83 yards.
Piedmont sacked quarterback Bryan Bullock four times and made enough plays on defense to escape with the victory.
“We were going back-and-forth with big body blows all game,” Highlanders coach Jordan Seiden said. “We’re a young defense. We’re going to give up some points. It’s a learning process. But there were definitely good things that came out. We swarmed to the ball, we played much tighter coverage.
A lot of it was underneath stuff that was killing us.”
Henderson and Fischer Veltri both left the game with injuries, leaving Piedmont down two linebackers.
Jimmy Lagios completed 12 of 24 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns. Cash Panico caught both of those among his six catches for 107 yards. Henderson had six rushes for 62 yards and two touchdowns as well as three receptions for 77 yards before he left the game.
The Highlanders finished with 423 yards on 45 offensive plays (9.4 per play).
“George (Saunders) stepped up big, (Max) Fujimoto stepped up big, Rehan stepped up big, making the game clinching interception,” Seiden said. “He has the worst hands on the team. He doesn’t catch anything in practice, for him to make that interception — shoot, he won the game for us.”
Piedmont now is set up for a final run for the playoffs. The Highlanders will host Kennedy-Fremont at Witter Field on Halloween, then close at Newark Memorial on November 7. Washington is 4-3, but 1-2 in WACC Mission League play.