Jonassaint, Green Valley shut down Skyhawks

With the Northeast League title already in hand, and coming off an emotional, last-second, one-point victory the week before, it would have been easy for Green Valley to have a letdown heading into Friday’s game at Silverado.

But the Gators had other plans.

“We wanted to go out on top, and not just be champs, but undefeated too,” running back Gino Jonassaint said.

With Jonassaint leading the way on a four-touchdown night, the Gators achieved did just that, shuting out the Skyhawks 33-0 to cap an undefeated campaign in league play.

Jonassaint only  had 11 carries, but still powered the attack for Green Valley (8-1, 5-0 Northwest), rushing for 158 yards.

“I was just thanking my blockers,” Jonassaint said. “If it wasn’t for them I couldn’t have done it.”

The senior scored on runs of 25, 4, 17 and 23 yards.

“He did a good job for us, and our line played really well,” Green Valley coach Brian Castro said. “We knew if we ran the football well, we would have some success.”

Jonassaint set the tone early on the opening drive of the game, taking an option pitch and racing 25 yards down the right sideline and into the end zone.

Green Valley went on to score touchdowns on it’s first five possessions of the game.

Castro said he was very happy with how his team took care of business coming off a pressure-filled win that clinched the league title the week before.

 “You are dealing with kids and the emotion of it all, so it definitely was a concern of ours,” Castro said. “We told our kids this week that we didn’t come this far to let up on anything. And they did come in focused.”

Christian Lopez was 8-for-8 passing for 104 yards and a score for the Gators, who, as the top seed in the Northwest, will host Foothill, the No. 4 seed from the Southeast, in the first round of the Division I Sunrise playoffs next Friday.

Defensively, the Gators only allowed Silverado (5-4, 2-3) to reach the red zone once. That drive at the end of the first half, however, came to an abrupt end when on fourth and six from the 8-yard line, Sam McAloon came up with a sack to stall the drive.

Gio Hernandez and Kelvin Woods each recovered fumbles to lead the Gator defense.

Alex Cater paced the Skyhawks, rushing 38 times for 170 yards. He finished the regular season with 2,123 yards on 362 carries, but failed to find the end zone against Green Valley.

Silverado, which finished fourth in the Northeast, will look to bounce back against Southeast champ Liberty in its first-round playoff game next Friday.

“They have a heck of a running game over there,” Castro said. “That running back is a good kid and he’s tough. We knew we had to be well prepared for him for sure.”

As for the Gators, Jonassaint said after winning eight in a row, the Gators will be ready to battle Foothill.

“Our focus is to just keep working hard,” Jonassaint said. “Our defense just has to execute a little better and we will be good. No worries over here.”