Carlo Sterni makes ground before being tackled. Photo courtesy of Tom Santillan

GALT, CA (MPG) - For one quarter here Friday night, the Galt Warriors looked like a team ready to stand toe-to-toe with anyone in the Sierra Valley Conference.

They ran the football with authority Oct. 9 and answered Rosemont’s opening touchdown with one of their own. They walked off the field after 12 minutes locked in a 7-7 tie. But over the next 12 minutes, the Wolverines turned a promising evening into a punishing one. And by the final whistle Galt was staring at a 41-21 Sierra Valley Conference defeat that dropped the Warriors to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in league play.

The final score told only part of the story. Galt finished with 393 yards of total offense — 231 on the ground and 162 through the air. What the Warriors could not do was protect the football. Three interceptions, repeatedly handed the Wolverines short fields and snuffed out drives that had been moving with ease.

Nestor Sanchez runs the ball for the Warriors. Photo courtesy of Tom Santillan

Rosemont made Galt pay for nearly every mistake, scoring 21 points in the second quarter alone to turn a tie game into a two-touchdown halftime lead, then pulling away with 13 more in the fourth.

The Warriors could hardly have scripted a better beginning. Behind a determined ground game, Galt marched down the field and found the end zone in the opening quarter, and its defense kept the Wolverines largely in check early. When the first quarter ended, the teams were tied and the Galt sideline was buzzing.

That momentum evaporated in the second quarter. Rosemont quarterback Cohen Randall found his rhythm, and the Wolverines rattled off three unanswered touchdowns before the break to seize a 28-14 lead.

Galt, to its credit, refused to fold. The Warriors opened the third quarter with their most impressive march of the night, finishing it in the end zone to trim the deficit to 28-21. For a moment, it looked as though they might steal the night. But the fourth quarter belonged to Rosemont, which added 13 more points to salt away the game and hand Galt its third straight league loss.

James Gilbert makes his way into the end zone. Photo courtesy of Tom Santillan

If there was a silver lining for Galt, it was the running game. The Warriors piled up 231 yards on 33 carries — an average of seven yards per attempt — and scored all three of their touchdowns on the ground.

Senior James Gilbert led the charge, carrying nine times for 52 yards and two touchdowns while adding a catch for 11 yards. Gilbert, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound linebacker and wingback, has been the Warriors’ most reliable weapon all season; he entered the night as the team’s leader in rushing yards per game and total touchdowns, and he added to both totals Friday.

He got plenty of help. Senior Carlo Sterni needed just three carries to rack up 55 yards, ripping off a 29-yard run that stood as Galt’s longest of the night. Senior Arthur Cordova added 53 yards on 10 carries, and sophomore Ricky Akers contributed 39 yards on four attempts. Sophomore fullback Sean Mace punched in a short touchdown, giving the Warriors a third scorer on the ground.

Galt’s 231 rushing yards were among its best totals of the year, trailing only the 493-yard outburst in its lone win over Natomas.

The passing game was a different story. Rubio completed 10 of 23 attempts for 162 yards, but he was intercepted three times and finished with a quarterback rating of 28.1. When he did connect, he was effective — Galt’s completions averaged 16.2 yards — but the turnovers proved too costly to overcome.

Akers was his favorite target, hauling in four passes for 74 yards, including a 32-yard grab that matched the team’s longest play through the air. Sterni caught two passes for 40 yards, senior Marcus Bell added two receptions for 27 yards, and Gilbert and junior Mark Grammer each chipped in a catch.

Akers finished with 113 all-purpose yards, the most of any Warrior, while Sterni added 95 and Gilbert 63. Galt has no shortage of ways to move the football; the challenge remains finishing drives and avoiding the mistakes that erase them.

Galt head coach JJ Woodward, who returned to the program last year determined to rebuild it, addressed his team’s miscues and the second-quarter surge that ultimately decided the game.

“I thought our kids competed hard Friday night, and I’m proud of the fight they showed. We were down 14 at halftime, came out and shut Rosemont out in the third quarter, and made it a one-score game going into the fourth,” said Galt Head Coach JJ Woodward. “Unfortunately, there were several critical moments that didn’t go our way, including some calls that I felt had a significant impact on the game. But I’m not going to put this loss on the officials. We turned the ball over too many times, and you simply can’t do that and expect to beat a good football team. What I want people to recognize is that these kids haven’t quit. They’re continuing to battle, continuing to improve, and we’re getting closer to playing the kind of football we know we’re capable of playing. Now we have to learn how to finish.”

Ricky Akers and Noah Ojeda tackle a Rosemont runner. Photo courtesy of Tom Santillan

The loss was another chapter in a difficult season for Galt, which has now dropped three straight and four of its last five. The Warriors’ lone victory came on Sept. 11, a 42-31 shootout win over Natomas.

Reasons for encouragement were apparent Friday. A year ago, Rosemont blanked Galt 38-0. This time, the Warriors moved the ball for nearly 400 yards and were within a touchdown entering the fourth quarter — real progress for a program that has cycled through head coaches in recent years.

Woodward is in his second season of his return to Galt, where he has deep roots. He has called the community home for more than 15 years. He arrived determined to end a run of instability that had seen the program cycle through five head coaches in five years.

Complete defensive statistics for the Warriors were not available by press time. Galt’s defense did come away with two interceptions, and the unit kept the Wolverines off the scoreboard in the third quarter — the one period in which the Warriors outscored their opponent.

Galt returns home Friday, Oct. 16, to host El Dorado (1-5) in a Sierra Valley Conference matchup. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. The Cougars dropped a 27-19 decision to Bradshaw Christian in their most recent outing.