The Gaston Greyhound players aren’t your typical bunch.
Greyhound senior Marcos Zamora plays on a team so small that, at times during practice, one coach has to play quarterback and another coach play wide receiver. At a field so dark, at times it’s hard to find a punt in the air. And, at the end of the Gaston 14-7 victory over the Corbett Cardinals Friday night on Senior Night, Zamora spent a moment in time so precious he will never forget.
He’ll remember the smell of the grass. The feel of his cleats. The taste of the crisp night air. He’ll remember the crowd. His teammates. His coaches.
In 20 years, he’ll still be smiling. He’ll remember it all.
After the final whistle blew, the crowd left the stands and the teams retired to the locker rooms: Zamora took a knee at the 50-yard line. He lowered his head and took it all in. He is going to hold on to this moment. His last game was a memorable one. It was a win he helped seal by falling on a late game fumble. It may just be another tic in the win column to folks picking up the paper, but to Zamora it’s the beginning of something more. Something special.
He knelt for what seemed like an eternity to the parents in the crowd. His teammates even had to run back onto the field to track him down. As he got up to walk back to the locker room fellow senior Bryan McCallie met Zamora at the 40 yard line. Senior Jamie Fisch joined them a few steps later.
“Marcos been an emotional player this last week,” coach Parker Bode said. “He’s a special player and he has been the guy who has wanted to look at the game tape from the last two weeks. A lot of guys look up to him and he’s got that added pressure of being The Player. So, [when it came to] building this program, I left it up to him.”
There is enough pressure and emotion to go around. Bode is trying to turn around a program that only won two games in the previous two seasons.
“This was a very emotional game,” Bode said. “A lot of seniors have bought into our program and they can see that we are turning things around. We told [the underclassmen] before the game to honor the seniors because one day they will be in the same position.”
Zamora, who plays both tight end and defensive end came into the game looking for change, not just a win.
“Sure it’s nice to win, but we won this game for the younger guys,” Zamora said. “If we win tonight that means they are going to be motivated to get in the weight room more and train harder. This team is going to be in the playoffs next year.”
Gaston missed the playoffs by a single game this year due to a loss at home to Nestucca on Oct. 23.
“I take the blame for the [12-point] loss to Nestucca,” Zamora said. “But [next season] David Carr is coming back, Dusty Brown is there. We’ve got players that are going to fill in for the seniors. Devon [McCathron] is going to be there.”
Friday night, Gaston got on the board first as the first quarter ended when Carr hit fellow sophomore McCathron with a 23-yard touch pass for six points. The pass capped an 8-play 65-yard drive. The two point conversion was no good.
Carr finished with 167 yards passing and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 71 yards.
Corbett answered back 13-seconds before the half when Ian Wynne intercepted an errant pass and returned it 55-yards for a touchdown. Corbett converted the extra point and pulled ahead 7-6.
Gaston came out an gave the ball away on an interception three plays into the second half. But the defense battled back.
“On defense, we dominate,” Zamora said. “Ron Stark is our defensive coordinator. He says just swarm to the ball and hit as hard as you can.”
On the ensuing drive, Gaston allowed only 18 yards and forced a fumble – recovered by Cardinals – before forcing Corbett to punt.
The Greyhounds then drove 74 yards in 14 plays for a touchdown. Again, Carr hit McCathron, this time a 2-yard touchdown pass. Again to end a quarter, this time with 23-seconds to go in the third. The Greyhounds converted the two-point try to make it 14-7 in favor of the Greyhounds.
Before the fourth quarter began the Greyhounds huddled on the sidelines.
“This is the last quarter of football for the seniors,” coach Stark said. “Let’s put it away.”
Gaston responded. In the fourth quarter, Corbett completed only four passes and gained 34 yards on offense. On the final drive of the game with under a minute to play sophomore defensive linemen Dillon McCathron sacked Corbett quarterback Matt Stevens and forced the fourth Cardinal fumble of the game.
The senior and team leader, Zamora, fell on the ball to seal the victory.
“That was a special moment,” Bode said. “I’ll have to bring that up at the banquet.”
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