Spartans sputter

The defending Northern Section Division III champions ran into a wall on Friday night.

East Nicolaus cut into a 24-0 first quarter deficit with a pair of unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter, but ultimately came up short in a 31-14 loss in its home opener to Ferndale.

"Take away that first quarter, where we were a little sluggish, and this would have been a much closer game," said East Nicolaus coach Mark Varnum.

After completing 15-of-27 passes for 300 yards and three touchdowns in a 36-34 loss to Rio Vista last week, Andrew Rubalcava struggled against the defending North Coast Section Division IV champs.

The senior quarterback completed two quick passes for short gains to the outside to begin the game, but was picked off by Eli Gurnee on his third pass and the rest of the first quarter was history.

On Ferndale's ensuing play, Jourdan Del Biaggio scampered down the field for a 31-yard touchdown after just 1:15 of game time completed.

Del Biaggio finished with 153 yards and four touchdowns — three of which came in the first quarter — on 21 carries, while Kyle Matyshock, Kevin McKay and Jimmie Griggs combined for 150 yards and a touchdown.

East Nicolaus either turned the ball over or punted to finish every possession in the first quarter.

The second quarter was a different story.

"It was a game of two quarters really," said Ferndale radio announcer Tag Wotherspoon. "East Nicolaus gained some momentum in that second quarter."

Immediately things went south for the Wildcats and the Spartans took full advantage.

Griggs' punt return for a touchdown was called back on off-setting penalties, and on the second play of Ferndale's first drive of the quarter, McKay fumbled the ball on a play where he was permanently taken out of the game and the Spartans recovered.

With their best field position up to that point, East Nicolaus scored on a Rubalcava pass over the middle to Jessee Gardner from 40 yards out.

The strike was one of two touchdowns passes thrown by Rubalcava, who also hit Brian Johnson from eight yards out later in the quarter. The drive came after a Ferndale turnover near midfield.

Rubalcava finished 9-for-18 for 167 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. He was also sacked six times, including four from Silas Sarvinski who set the tone on defense in the second half.

While Ferndale struggled to score from second quarter on, the Spartans also had difficulty generating offense late in the game.

Even Ferndale coach Kim Jorgensen admits his team didn't look like a team getting attention to earn the bid for the California Interscholastic Federation small school division state title game.

"It didn't look like it in that second quarter," he said. "We'll see. This game was tough."

East Nicolaus could muster just 30 yards on the ground on 30 carries. Cody Cates led the team with 10 carries for 39 yards.

The disparity in first downs also revealed the struggles on offense as Ferndale had 13 first downs to East Nicolaus' three.

"We need to work more on reading coverages," Varnum said. "They (Ferndale) mixed up their coverages really well tonight."

Contact sports editor Bryan DeMain at bdemain@appealdemocrat.com or at 743-0512.