The Dublin High Varsity Football team overcame a 10-0 halftime deficit and scored a touchdown in the game’s final minute to complete a 20-13 come-from-behind victory on the road at Hayward on Friday night.
Dublin initiated the comeback on the first play of the second half, as Jack Duncan connected with Garrett Esomonu on an 80-yard touchdown to trim their deficit to 10-7. The Gaels would end up tying the game on the first play of the 4th quarter on a 43-yard touchdown run, which helped set things up for the thrilling finish.
After receiving the ball on its own 20-yard line with 3:28 remaining in the game, the Gaels appeared to be in trouble as they were pushed back to the 15-yard line following a penalty while facing a 2nd-and-15. Duncan proceeded to hit Aiden Li over the middle for a 35-yard gain to bring the Gaels to midfield and give Dublin momentum.
Dublin drove 33 yards to the Hayward 17-yard line, where Duncan threw another touchdown pass to Esomonu to give the Gaels their first lead of the night with 0:49 remaining. The Farmers were able to drive to the Dublin 42-yard line in the game’s final seconds before Jonah Dixon made an interception to seal the victory.
With the win, Dublin is now 4-2 overall as it heads into the start of East Bay Athletic League Valley Division action next week. The Junior Varsity team also finished the nonleague portion of its schedule 4-2 following a 19-6 victory over the Farmers. Both teams will travel to face Granada next Friday, October 6th in their EBAL opener (4:30/7:00), while the Freshmen team (5-1) will be hosting the Matadors the preceding night (Thursday, October 5th) at 6:00.
In addition to Football, the end of the week also saw big wins for many of Dublin’s other Varsity programs as well.
Thursday’s action saw a clean sweep by all of the Gaels’ Varsity teams, starting with the Girls’ Tennis team’s 7-2 win at Carondelet. The Girls’ Golf team avenged an early season loss to Granada by defeating the Matadors 209-223 on its home Dublin Ranch course, and the night concluded with Dublin knocking off Livermore in Girls Volleyball 3-0. All three teams still have winning records, as Girls Tennis improved to 4-1, Girls Golf to 6-4, and Girls Volleyball to 9-7.
On Friday, the Boys and Girls Water Polo teams each recorded their 5th victories of the season. The Boys defeated Pittsburg 14-7, while the Girls knocked off the Pirates 17-2.
Looking ahead to this week, the first of Dublin High’s Senior Nights will be taking place on Tuesday, October 3rd as the Girls Flag Football team hosts Granada at 8:00 with a reception in honor of the program’s inaugural group of seniors taking place just before the start of the game. The Girls Flag Football team also has a game earlier that evening at Gaels Stadium at 5:30 against Benicia.
The Girls Tennis team also has home matches this week, taking on California on Tuesday, October 3rd and Amador Valley on Thursday, October 5th. Both matches start at 4:00, while the Girls Golf team has a home contest this week at Dublin Ranch Golf Course against Foothill on Thursday (3:30)
