Suns rally, can’t complete comeback against Grizzlies

None can doubt the grit of the Southridge High School football team after scoring 20 unanswered points to close out their game against Sunnyside on Friday.

But it was too little, too late, as the Suns ended up falling to the Grizzlies 28-20 in the nightcap of the season’s first doubleheader at Lampson Stadium.

“We just ran out of time,” Southridge coach Aaron Sonnichsen said. “We started off slow, we had our opportunities, and then we kind of gave them some points at the beginning. But we rallied, and we’ll learn from this. You’ve gotta start fast, start strong, and we’re gonna get better.”

Senior running back Myles Alvarez was deadly between the 20s for Sunnyside, racking up 224 yards on 36 carries. Some big carries out of the gate allowed the Grizzlies to strike quickly, with wide out Nate Maltos hauling in touchdown grabs of 33 and 10 yards on the team’s first two possessions of the game.

But almost all of Sunnyside’s offense came in that early burst, as the Southridge defense didn’t surrender a point in the final 29 minutes, 45 seconds of game time. The Suns recorded a turnover on downs and a safety in the third quarter, and Mikael Failor recovered an Alvarez fumble in the fourth.

“Second half, they (the defense) were outstanding,” Southridge quarterback Mason Perez said. “They kept us in the game, they gave us that opportunity to get within a touchdown. Just a great job by them.”

Sunnyside (2-0) rattled off 28 straight points to start the game, but Southridge gritted its teeth and — after starting running back Jaden Walter injured his shoulder a couple plays prior — Mason Bond pounded in a 1-yard run to get the Suns on the board with a couple minutes remaining in the first half, sending them into the locker room down 28-6

When they came out of the locker room, the Suns were fired up. A personal foul on the kickoff gave the Suns the ball in Sunnyside territory, and Jake Newberry capitalized on the following play by catching a short pass from Perez and sprinting 42 yards for a touchdown to cut Sunnyside’s lead to 28-12. The Suns elected to go onside with the ensuing kick, and recovered it, again giving them the ball on the Grizzlies’ side of the field.

But interceptions by Derrik Escamilla — his second of the game — and Justin Reyes halted the Suns’ following drives, the latter of which ended inside the 10-yard line. A defensive stop, followed by a bad snap on a punt, resulted in a safety and cut Sunnyside’s lead to an even 14.

Nearing the end of the third quarter, Perez and the Southridge offense took over at their own 31. They marched into the middle of Grizzlies’ territory when the QB heaved a ball down field that found the hands of Peyton Monson for a 33-yard touchdown, cutting Sunnyside’s advantage to 28-20 with 10:30 to play.

“That was trust,” Perez said of the TD hookup with Monson. “We’re friends off the field, and we’ve always got that chemistry. We built it over the summer, and we’re comfortable with each other. I always know he’s gonna be there for me.”

But that was as close as the Suns would get, as a heavy dose of Alvarez milked the clock and only gave them one more possession, which ended in Sunnyside territory when Failor couldn’t come up with a catch on fourth down.

Perez finished the day completing 15 of 35 passes for 206 yards, with three interceptions to go with his two TDs. He found Monson nine times for 113 yards, including the scoring play.

Couple that with Eric Stayrook, who only caught one ball for six yards on Friday, but had four catches for 132 last week in a 24-21 win over Wenatchee, and the Suns have a potentially dangerous receiving tandem for their first-year signal caller.

“They’re definitely our dudes, and we’ve gotta get the ball out to our playmakers,” Sonnichsen said. “They do well out in space, and can make great catches. We’ve gotta get a little bit better at running our routes, and running them at full speed all the time. But we’ll get there.”

Southridge (1-1) plays Pasco at Edgar Brown to open the MCC schedule next week.

This story was originally published September 9, 2017 at 1:31 AM with the headline "Suns rally, can’t complete comeback against Grizzlies."