Pearsall Has a Big Day as Villa Park Romps
Big-play mania hit Glover Stadium in every imaginable way Saturday night, and pretty much every player on the field used his imagination.
Villa Park and Loara featured every big play in the book, with Villa Park coming up with the majority of them, and the 37-12 nonleague victory.
“We popped open a few,” Villa Park Coach Pat Mahoney said. “Those big plays we had early were important because it loosened us up and gave us more options.”
And the kid making his share of the huge plays was senior running back Grant Pearsall, who would have given an pedometer a workout Saturday night. He finished with 303 all-purpose yards.
Pearsall, who scored three touchdowns for the Spartans (2-2), started the night off by running 65 yards on the first play from scrimmage for a score. The extra-kick attempt failed.
Early in the second quarter, he outdid his earlier antics by returning a Loara punt 70 yards for a touchdown. The pass conversion from quarterback Sean McMahon to Justin McCully made it 14-0.
But Pearsall wasn’t done for the quarter. With 3:59 left before halftime, the 6-foot-2 senior caught a five-yard pass from McMahon for a 21-0 Villa Park lead.
The most interesting play on Villa Park’s next series, which culminated with a 27-yard field goal by Matt Brady for the 24-0 halftime lead, was the halfback option the Spartans sneaked in. McMahon pitched the ball back to Pearsall, who then connected with McMahon for a 32-yard pass play.
“We tried it during the week, and decided to use it tonight,” Pearsall said. “This was a great game for us. We really needed this tonight.”
The ending was especially sweet for Villa Park, since it was coming off two consecutive losses and has a short week of practice before it meets Mission Viejo on Thursday.
“This was good for us,” Mahoney said, “but I didn’t expect to score 37 points against Loara. They’re a really rough team.”
But things only got tougher for Loara in the second half when Pearsall came roaring out, dropped the ball on the opening kickoff but still managed to return it 88 yards for a touchdown. After Pearsall had fielded the ball near the 20 and then dropped it, Loara overran him, allowing Pearsall to find an opening and zig-zag his way across the field.
Villa Park scored on its first series in the fourth quarter, a 33-yard pass from McMahon to Sean Adams for the 37-0 margin.
Just when it looked as if the shutout would stand, Loara (2-1-1) came to life. With 3:47 to play, quarterback Jim Kirkland found Floyd Talley on a 16-yard pass play to get the Saxons on the scoreboard. Then, with 1:19 remaining, Vincent Pla returned a Villa Park fumble 67 yards for another score. Both extra-kick attempts failed.
