Prep football: Tam makes big noise in MCAL opener

Players on the Tam High football team felt like they needed to make a bold statement in Saturday’s MCAL football opener, and defensive lineman David Anderson delivered.

The big-hitting senior delivered with five sacks, and forced a fumble that he scooped up for a 50-yard touchdown run at the close of the first quarter as Tam started its roll in a 49-0 victory over San Rafael.

Tam head coach Matthew LemMon admits his players were irked by a social media post earlier in the week that listed the four undefeated Marin teams heading into MCAL play: San Marin, Marin Catholic, Redwood and San Rafael.

“We wanted to send a message to the rest of the league,” said LemMon, whose Tam squad improved to 4-1 overall with Saturday’s win. Tam’s only loss this season came in overtime, 27-26, against non-league foe Las Lomas on Sept. 8.

The Red-tailed Hawks rolled out a punishing defensive unit that allowed just 186 yards and forced two turnovers, while keeping the Bulldogs off the scoreboard — not necessarily an easy feat considering Tam’s former offensive and defensive coordinators are now on San Rafael’s sidelines.

San Rafael head coach Casey Sully, a former offensive coordinator at Tam with LemMon, expected a tough test from the Hawks. They delivered. San Rafael quarterback Joe Miller was sacked twice on the game’s opening drive as the Bulldogs were pushed backward 11 yards before punting.

“There were spurts, but we weren’t consistent,” Sully said. “We didn’t play to the best of our ability. We didn’t show our best today.”

San Rafael’s defense looked like maybe it could match up against Tam’s offense as the Bulldogs stopped Tam cold 1 yard short of the end zone on the Hawks’ first drive.

“We had some lulls,” LemMon said. “Leaving those points on the board hurt. Those were raw. … We still have somethings to work on. We fix one thing, then there’s something else to work on. It’s like Whac-a-Mole out there.”

A defensive battle was forming as both teams struggled to hold on to the ball, with enough fumbles — forced and unforced — to drive a coach to buy stock in Aspirin. The Bulldogs lost three of four fumbles. Tam fumbled the ball twice, but managed to hold on to it both times.

Tam’s offense clicked late in the first quarter as quarterback Braden Young found Octavian Green waiting in the end zone for a quick 3-yard touchdown pass to give the Hawks a 7-0 lead. Anderson scored just 2 minutes later after he hit Miller as the quarterback’s arm started to come forward, forcing a fumble that he returned for a score, giving Tam a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Touchdown passes from Young to Andrew Gordon and Reed Edwards gave Tam a 28-0 lead at halftime. Jake Son added a pair of scores in the third quarter — a 6-yard reception and a 3-yard carry — to douse any hope of a San Rafael rally. Caden Barringer scrambled for a 13-yard touchdown from backup quarterback Reed Edwards in the closing minutes of the game to put the icing on the Tam victory.

Green caught five passes for a team-best 75 yards, while Ramon Beetschen had four catches for 50 total yards. Young finished the day with 222 passing yards during a 20-for-30 effort, despite throwing under pressure from San Rafael’s Abraham Hannah and Sam Perez.

San Rafael’s Haden Berlinsky (67 yards) and Conrad Chick combined for 12 catches for 116 yards. Senior Bodhi Shipley powered the Bulldogs’ running game with 18 carries for 49 yards.

Miller completed 6-of-15 passes for 51 yards in the first half before handing the quarterbacking duties to senior Quinn Madden, who was 6 for 11 for 65 yards. Madden nearly got the Bulldogs on the board in the closing seconds, but his final pass from 10 yards out didn’t find its target as the siren sounded to end the game.

The Bulldogs’ (3-1, 0-1) schedule gets tougher next week with a Friday night game against San Marin (4-0, 1-0). Tam. meanwhile, marches to San Anselmo for a meeting with Archie Williams (1-3, 0-1).

Tam 49, San Rafael 0

MCAL

San Rafael 0 0 0 0 — 0

Tam 14 14 14 7 — 49

SCORING SUMMARY

T — Green 3 pass from Young (T. Koo kick)

T — Anderson 50 fumble return (T. Koo kick)

T — Gordon 7 pass from Young (pass fail)

T — Edwards 1 pass from Young (E. Koo run)

T — Son 6 pass from Young (T. Koo kick)

T — Son 3 run (T. Koo kick)

T — Beetschen 13 pass from Edwards (T. Koo kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — SR, Shipley 18-49, Jordan 3-9, Gonzalez 2-7. Totals 23-65. Tam, E. Koo 12-66, Weisberg 7-39, Covey 2-17, Gordon 1-16, Young 3-9, Son 3-6, Edwards 1-1, Green 1-(minus-4). Totals 30-150.

PASSING — SR, Miller 6-15-0 51, Madden 6-11-0 65. Totals 12-26-0 116. Tam, Young 20-30-0 222, Beyer 0-3-0 0, Edwards 1-1-0 13. Totals 21-34-0 235.

RECEIVING — SR, Chick 6-49, Berlinsky 6-67. Totals 12-116. Tam, Green 5-75, Beetschen 4-60, Gordon 6-54, Son 2-20, Hindley 1-13, E. Koo 1-5, Edwards 2-8. Totals 21-235.

Records—San Rafael 3-1, 0-1 MCAL. Tam 4-1, 1-0.