Nakata steps in, rescues Bonanza

Bonanza dominated rival Spring Valley in the first half of the annual “Banner Game,” but the Bengals still needed a last-minute miracle from their backup quarterback Friday.

Justin Nakata threw a 27-yard touchdown to DeAndre Garcia with 48 seconds remaining to lift host Bonanza to a 27-22 victory over the Grizzlies.

After leading for most of the night, the Bengals (3-1) found themselves trailing 22-21 when Spring Valley quarterback Christian Tasi scored on a 6-yard run and ran in the 2-point conversion with 4:51 to play.

Bonanza moved the ball near midfield on the ensuing possession, and Bengals quarterback Tyler Penkalski kept the drive alive with a 6-yard run on fourth-and-5 to the Spring Valley 46-yard line. However, the senior quarterback injured his ankle on the play and had to leave the game.

Nakata took over, and after an illegal procedure penalty, the senior completed all three of his passes for 51 yards, including the game-winning score to Garcia.

“My heads spinning a bit right now,” Nakata said. “We game planned all week to throw hooks because they play so far off (the receivers.) That got us down to where we needed to be, and DeAndre came through for us. I’m really proud of him.”

Spring Valley (1-3) took the ensuing kickoff and quickly advanced to its own 44-yard line. However, the Bengals’ defense forced four straight incomplete passes to hang on for the victory.

Despite forcing three first-half turnovers, Bonanza only led 7-0 at halftime on a 1-yard touchdown run by Penkalski. Spring Valley tied the game at 7-7 when Tasi scored on a 1-yard run midway through the third quarter.

“We hurt ourselves in the first half,” Bengals coach Kevin Volcic said. “We had two turnovers on defense in the red zone and couldn’t punch it in. Credit Spring Valley, they really defended us well. We just didn’t have the numbers in the box. … We started to get the edge, but we just couldn’t score.”

Bonanza answered Tasi’s score when Carlos Soto took the ensuing kickoff back 95 yards for a touchdown. The Bengals extended their lead to 21-7 late in the third quarter when Penkalski connected with Garcia on a 20-yard scoring strike. The drive was set up by an interception by Jayveon Taylor.

Spring Valley answered that score on its next possession when Tasi connected with Micah Benoza on an 85-yard scoring pass on the final play of the quarter to cut the Bengals lead to 21-14.

“Our defense played really well tonight,” Volcic said. “We gave up one big play, but the majority of the game they played lights out.”

Volcic did not know the severity of Penkalski’s injury immediately after the game. However, the senior left the field on crutches.

“I’m really down about what what happened to Tyler right now,” Nakata said. “This is his spot.”

The good news for Bengals is they have a bye week before facing Centennial on Oct. 11. Volcic and his team have two weeks to adjust to a possible new starting quarterback and to fix some of the offensive problems that kept Spring Valley in Friday’s game.

“Nakata is willing and able to do the job,” Volcic said. “He is a lot better passer than runner, so we might have to change a couple of things if he’s taking over the rest of the season or just for one week.

“We are struggling up front on offense, and we need to get those things fixed. We have some size up front, but when we are getting pressure we are not picking it up like we should. This bye week is much needed to fix those things.”