Gavia TD catch rescues Memorial against No. 17 Sunnyside

Gabriel Gavia, with one sensational leap in the fourth quarter, denied Sunnyside High just when the 17th-ranked Wildcats were making a charge, and Memorial remained unbeaten with a 28-20 nonleague win Friday night at Sunnyside.

The 4-0 Panthers, who hadn’t scored since the first minute of the second quarter, faced third and 12 on the Sunnyside 40, leading 21-13.

Gavia, a junior wide receiver, streaked straight down the field from the left side.

Quarterback Michael Alvarez let it fly, Gavia won a jump ball against Wildcats cornerback Aaron Mouton, came down with it at the 15 and raced into the end zone.

Luis Pelayo’s conversion kick made it 28-13 with 9 minutes, 22 seconds remaining, and Memorial held on against the 2-2 team from the North Yosemite League.

What was Gavia thinking when the ball was in the air?

“I’ve got to catch, man, just catch it,” he said.

It was the catch of the 16-year-old’s career.

“I’m happy and relieved,” Gavia said. “It was a wonderful experience.”

It was a night of mixed experiences for the Panthers, who will return home to complete nonleague play against Hoover at 7 p.m. Thursday in the makeup of a game scratched two weeks ago because of poor air quality.

Memorial two-way standout linemen Blake Schmiederer (separated shoulder) and Richard Ramirez (sprained ankle) left the game in the third quarter.

Panthers coach Anthony Goston estimated Schmiederer will be out for three to four weeks and Ramirez for a week or two.

And looming large in two weeks is the Central Section’s defending Division I champion Edison for a County/Metro Athletic Conference opener at Memorial.

The Panthers, unranked but not for long, had beaten Washington (10-7), McLane (41-14) and Garces (30-17) before Friday night.

“I learned a lot of things,” Goston said, “and what I learned is we’re not bad. Sunnyside is a good team with a lot of athletes, and our guys fought through a lot of adversity to play very well.”

Alvarez, who started last year as a sophomore, passed for 194 yards and rushed for 29, including two touchdowns.

Sunnyside senior Tajee Scott – who had rushed for 357 yards, averaged 8.9 a carry and scored five TDs coming in – was held to five yards on six carries against a Memorial defense led by linebacker Joey Ruiz and safety Chris Paz.

But the performance of the night was delivered by Wildcats junior Nate Hughes, who – clearly in discomfort with a right (throwing) shoulder problem – completed 28 of 51 passes for 304 yards and two TDs. He also rushed for one.

In a game that otherwise had five Hughes on-target passes dropped, a dependable target was tight end Jesus Castaneda, who caught eight passes for 105 yards and a score.

This story was originally published September 25, 2015 at 11:38 PM with the headline "Gavia TD catch rescues Memorial against No. 17 Sunnyside."