Prep football: Turnovers trip up Tam in season opener

An ominous start told a tale of terror ahead as the Tam High football team made mistakes in all the wrong places and bowed 14-7 to visiting Northgate (Walnut Creek) in the season opener for both teams.

Tam’s first offensive play, after gaining favorable field position following a failed fake punt, resulted in a lost fumble.

The Red-tailed Hawks’ next three drives ended in interception, interception and a 23-yard loss from a bad snap.

Tam’s first-game jitters included three more big losses on bad snaps from center and two more interceptions from lanky lefty Henry Tuttle, a junior, who was making his varsity debut.

“We had our ups and downs,” said senior wide receiver Timo Ural, who accounted for Tam’s only touchdown late in the fourth quarter on a 12-yard pass from Tuttle. “It seemed like every time we had a chance to score something bad would happen. But we will rebound. We’ll have a hard week of practice and come back better next game.”

Tam’s offense was stop-and-start all game mostly because of turnovers and mistakes.

Featured running back Miles Kelsey was sharp in his season debut, rolling up 55 yards on nine carries.

But Tam’s stats in the rushing department were turned upside down by 80 yards of losses on errant snaps, accounting for the Hawks’ negative total yards on the rushing ledger.

Tuttle was on target often but unsure at times. His final numbers of 14 completions on 23 attempts for 180 yards were solid, but overshadowed by his three interceptions.

“Henry definitely struggled a bit,” Tam coach Anthony Mejia said. “But in his first varsity start, we expected one or two interceptions. He’s a talented kid with a high football IQ. He had some first-game jitters but I’m not too worried about it.”

Tam’s defense was solid and kept the Red-tailed Hawks in the game throughout.

Tam kept the scoreboard blank early in the second quarter when Cole Kramlich broke through the line and blocked a 24-yard field-goal attempt.

The Hawks appeared ready to cash in on the momentum swing reaching Northgate’s 13-yard line on a 21-yard pass from Tuttle to speedy Streeter Holt — but a fourth-down pass fell incomplete.

Northgate seized the opportunity, turning a quick-slant pass into an 86-yard gain.

Two plays later, Northgate workhorse running back Triston Tolerton (24 carries, 108 yards) wriggled into the end zone from one-yard out for the game’s first touchdown.

Both defenses made enough big plays to throttle all scoring until the Broncos recovered a fumble – Tam’s fifth turnover – and drove 60 yards on seven plays capped by Bryce Ballard’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Dax Gordon.

After the kickoff, Tuttle found his best rhythm, clicking on an 18-yard pass to Ural, a 35-yard completion to Kramlich and the touchdown pass to Ural on consecutive plays.

Tam’s last chance to even the score came after its defense forced a three-and-out but an interception with less than three minutes remaining ended any chance of a comeback.

Northgate 14, Tam 7

non-league

Northgate  0  7  0  7  –  14

Tam  0  0  0  7  – 7

SCORING SUMMARY

N – Tolerton 1 run (Gordon kick)

N – Gordon 16 pass from Ballard (Gordon kick)

T – Ural 12 pass from Tuttle (Keane kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: N – Tolerton 24-108, Gordon 2-18, Ballard 4-4, Campopiano 4-24. Totals: 34-154. T – Kelsey 9-55, Platt 4-12, bad snap 4-(minus-80). Totals 17-(minus-13).

Passing: N – Ballard 11-23-0 174. Totals: 11-23-0 174. T – Tuttle 14-23-3 180. Sacks 2-17. Totals: 14-23-3 163.

Receiving: N – Summers 3-109, Gordon 5-47, Mayse 3-18. Totals: 11-174. T – Carder 1-5, Kramlich 4-60, Ural 5-70, Keane 2-15, Holt 1-21, Platt 1-9. Totals: 14-180.

Records – Northgate 1-0, Tam 0-1.