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PASCO -- The Sunnyside football team has woken up with many a homecoming hangover, a small 3A school that over the years has been a preferred opponent for other team's celebrations.
Well, if the Grizzlies and their fans wake up with muzzy heads this morning, it will be for an entirely different reason.
Sunnyside shocked Pasco 22-21 on Friday night for its first victory of the season, winning on Israel Manzo's 27-yard field goal in the final minute and stunning the Bulldog faithful at Edgar Brown Stadium.
"Ooh, a lot, a lot," Manzo said of how much getting a win against a program like Pasco means for Sunnyside. "Pasco's always been good. This is a great experience to have."
It was as big a night for Manzo as it was for the Grizzlies.
On offense, the sophomore wing had 12 carries for 82 yards -- breaking off a 25-yard run to put his team in position for a winning kick on the final drive -- and made a pair of big catches, including a 13-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Defensively, he had two of Sunnyside's three picks, the second dashing Pasco's last hope.
Then there was the field goal.
Pasco (2-3, 1-3 Columbia) opened a 21-12 lead with 8:07 to play thanks to some creative work by receivers Austin Wilborn and Marques Avery.
Avery, who blocked an extra point and a punt in the first half, turned a quick pass from Josh Morris into a 31-yard gain. Wilborn, who had two picks on the defensive side, finished the drive with a nifty 7-yard run, keeping his feet while avoiding a defender in the backfield and then leaping into the end zone for the score.
Ahead two scores against the ground-pounding Grizzlies, it seemed like homecoming was in the bag.
"There were a lot of times we could have put nails in the coffin and didn't do it," said Pasco coach Dustin Lamb. "We didn't play good enough to win."
The Grizzlies (1-4, 1-2) pieced together a 65-yard drive, converting a third-and-6 as quarterback Andrew Daley avoided a sack before delivering a strike to Victor Rios.
A sack by linebacker Bevin Whitby handed Sunnyside a third-and-13 at the Pasco 20, but Daley connected on a fourth-down pass to James Sanchez to pull within 21-19 with 3:23 left.
Daley, whose 42 percent completion rate is 10th in the league, hit on 10 of 22 passes for the game but was 7-for-11 (64 percent) for 94 yards in the second half.
The Bulldogs recovered the onside kick but couldn't move the ball, and an 18-yard punt set up Sunnyside near midfield with just over two minutes on the clock.
The big blow came on the first play, when Cruz Guzman sacked Daley for a 6-yard loss.
However, a facemask penalty -- Pasco had nine of them for 105 yards on the night -- killed the play, and Manzo broke off a 25-yarder on the next snap.
Three plays later, he was lining up for the kick.
"My heart was beating fast," Manzo said. "This game came down to me."
DeVaunte Lamb had 120 yards rushing for Pasco, including a 39-yard TD run in the second quarter. Morris finished 17-for-27 for 183 yards, finding big tight end Jacob Price six times for 52 yards and Wilborn five for 63.
The Sunnyside players gave coach Mark Marro a water bottle bath after one of the program's biggest wins.
"We've been a homecoming team a lot of times," the eighth-year coach said. "Three years ago we were in a homecoming game every week."
Not anymore.
Not after this one.
* Kevin Anthony: 582-1403; kanthony@tricityherald.com
Sunnyside 22, Pasco 21
Sunnyside 6 0 6 10 -- 22
Pasco 0 14 0 7 -- 21
SCORING PLAYS
SS--Danny Almeida 3 run (kick blocked)
P--Jacob Price 5 pass from Josh Morris (Emmanuel Martinez kick)
P--DeVaunte Lamb 39 run (Martinez kick)
SS--Israel Manzo 13 pass from Andrew Daley (run failed)
P--Austin Wilborn 7 run (Martinez kick)
SS--James Sanchez 12 pass from Daley (Manzo kick)
SS-- FG Manzo 27
STATISTICS
RUSHING--SS, Almeida 19-77, Manzo 12-82, Victor Rios 4-6, Daley 3-(minus 15). P, Lamb 17-120, Brandon Search 3-25, Wilborn 3-15, Bevin Whitby 4-11, Price 3-7, Morris 1-(minus 12).
PASSING--SS, Daley 10-22-2-110. P, Morris 17-27-2-183, Search 0-1-1-0.
RECEIVING--SS, Rios 4-55, Sanchez 2-22, Manzo 2-21, Almeida 2-12. P, Price 6-52, Wilborn 5-63, Avery 3-55, Search 2-14, Lamb 1-(minus 2).
FIRST DOWNS--SS 14, P 15. FUMBLES-LOST--SS 0-0, P 3-1. PENALTIES-YARDS--SS 3-15, P 9-105.
