Football: Drake falls 13-10 to Tam High

A flat first half of football in the season opener was a bit too much to overcome for the Drake High Pirates on Saturday. But the spirited second-half rally helped soften the blow of a 13-10 loss to the host Tam Red-tailed Hawks in Mill Valley.

"It was a tale of two halves, really," said Drake junior Ross MacAusland, who caught a 92-yard touchdown pass for the Pirates' highlight of the afternoon. "The first half, we just couldn't get anything going. But in the second, we got in that mindset and did a lot better. That gives us a lot of confidence because we know what we're capable of now."

Although the teams are Marin County Athletic League opponents, the game is a preseason matchup and won't count toward their MCAL records.

The Red-tailed Hawks jumped to a 13-0 halftime lead and held off a late Pirate charge. Drake, which was 3-7 in 2009, had a deeper and larger lineup than Tam but were prone to mistakes at bad times Saturday. Tam, 8-4 a year ago, returned only two starters and has a roster of just 19.  

A couple of deep throws into the end zone didn't sit well with Drake coach Dan Kenilvort. After the game, he said his offense "kind of panicked as we tried to work into the end zone too quickly. We could have been more patient. We have a good field goal kicker."

Down 13-0, Drake started its comeback with a safety by Pirate junior lineman Blake  Pannes, who tackled punter Jonny Wachtel after the snap said over Wachtel's head. Tam's lead was cut to 13-2 with 57 seconds left in the third quarter.

The momentum really turned in Drake's favor with 4:54 left in the game when quarterback Andrew Brown connected with receiver Ross MacAusland for 92-yard touchdown. Near his own goal line, Brown heaved his pass down the left sideline and found MacAusland at about the 50. The 6-foot-2 junior shook off one defender as he grabbed the ball and raced into the end zone to cut Tam's lead to 13-8. Brown rolled right and found Connor Lind in the end zone on the two-point conversion.

The chances continued to brighten for Drake when Lind recovered a fumble by Tam's Mac Huffman at the Tam 36-yard line with 2:36 remaining in the game. But the Pirates were stuck at fourth down and 16 yards to go following a sack by Kevin Le and Jacob Garrard.

Opting to go for it with 1:32 left, Brown dropped back and tossed a wobbly ball into the end zone that was picked off by Graeme Black. Black, also Tam's quarterback, kneeled down to kill the clock two plays later.

Drake outgained Tam 272 yards to 210, but the outcome was swayed by five interceptions by Tam defenders and eight penalties on Drake.

Brown completed seven of 24 passes for 180 yards, and MacAusland was the leading receiver with three receptions for 140 yards. Brown also was the leading rusher for Drake with 13 carries for 47 yards.

Tam was held to 2.15 yards per carry by the Drake defense. Huffman carried 18 times for 54 yards to lead the Hawks, and Casey Hogan added 47 yards. Black was 9-for-16 for 122 yards passing with one interception.

Tam drove 40 yards in 10 plays to score on its first drive of the season. Brian Scott hauled in a pass from Black that was tipped in the end zone by Drake's Jeremy Steele. The 13-year scoring play, followed by Wachtel's extra-point kick -- also tipped by Steele -- put Tam ahead 7-0 with 6:36 left in the first quarter.
The Hawks stretched the lead to 13-0 when Haynes Stephens raced past the Drake secondary and caught a  33-yard pass from Black with 3:35 left in the first half. Wachtel's PAT was blocked.

Tam missed a chance to put the game away just before halftime when it had the ball on the Drake 8-yard line following a 24-yard pass connection between Black and Scott.  Black threw into traffic and Drake's Steele picked off the pass at the goal line with 23 seconds remaining, setting up Drake's rally in the second half.

"They didn't have many people, but they brought it today," Drake's MacAusland said of the Hawks.  

Kenilvort said the lackluster first half by the Pirates can't happen in future games.

"We beat ourselves in the first half, then came out and did pretty well in the second,"  he said. "We were resilient and if we can keep that trend going, we'll be OK."