Ugly Eagles use ground game to soar

Robby Rowell could only watch.

The Acalanes-Lafayette quarterback, who had passed for more than 200 yards and three touchdowns, spent more than 11 minutes of game time spanning the third and fourth quarters just itching to get a chance to add to those numbers and tie the game.

But Clayton Valley’s offense just kept pounding its way downfield. And with a 22-play drive, capped by Thomas Alatini’s 6-yard touchdown run, the visiting Ugly Eagles sealed a 35-21 win in Diablo Athletic League-Foothill Conference action Friday.

“I thought we were going to stop them two or three different times,” Rowell said of the drive, which went 80 yards and burned 11 minutes and 41 seconds. “We had them at 4th-and-6 at the 50 and they got it by 1 yard. But I trust our defense; they played their hearts out.”

Rowell and the No. 23ranked Dons (6-1, 2-1) got the ball back with 4:32 left, trailing by two scores. They drove to the Clayton Valley 7-yard line before Gabriel Dobbins intercepted a tipped pass at the 3 with 2:04 remaining.

Ninth-ranked Clayton Valley (6-2, 2-0) then ran out the clock and breathed a sigh of relief.

“I know we moved the ball well, but their defense did a good job,” Clayton Valley coach Tim Murphy said. “They kept on coming at us. Offensively, that quarterback is the best quarterback we’ve seen. That kid is good.”

Rowell completed 32 of 43 passes for 294 yards. Three times he answered a Clayton Valley touchdown with a scoring drive, but host Acalanes never led. The game was tied 7-7 and 14-14, but the Ugly Eagles took a 21-14 lead into the intermission thanks to 29-yard scoring run by quarterback KJ Gardner with 3:08 left in the half.

Clayton Valley had 400 yards rushing, fueled by the tandem of James Teofilo and Alatini. Teofilo rushed 18 times for 169 yards and one touchdown. Alatini carried 19 times for 164 yards and two scores.

The win extended the Ugly Eagles’ league winning streak to 29 games. The streak dates to an Oct. 28, 2011, loss to Northgate-Walnut Creek. That was the season before Murphy took over as coach.

“That’s one of the things these guys are trying to hang on to,” Murphy said of the streak. “I thought they did a good job of having that pride to do it tonight.”