Peninsula Excels in Field Test

Usually semester midterms come sometime in October.

But for the Narbonne High football team, their on-field exams are coming in the first two weeks of the season. And after Friday’s 30-0 loss at Peninsula, the Gauchos are left with a unsatisfactory grade on their report card.

For the second consecutive week, Narbonne (0-2) was matched up against a Southern Section powerhouse. Last week, Bishop Amat took advantage of Narbonne miscues for an easy victory. On Friday, Peninsula (2-0) did the same.

“It’s disappointing,” Narbonne Coach Leroy Wilson said. “We did an excellent job moving the ball, but we seem to be beating ourselves. We’ve done it two weeks in a row.”

In a first half that featured long, time-consuming drives, each team found itself deep in the opposition’s territory, but only the Panthers scored.

Both teams had three possessions before halftime and the Panthers capitalized for 17 points.

After Narbonne went three plays and out on their opening drive, Peninsula marched down the field for a seven-play, 55-yard touchdown drive capped by a one-yard touchdown run by Brad Durban for a 7-0 lead.

The Gauchos put together two drives five minutes or longer on their next two drives, but stalled when crossing the Panther 30-yard line. A sack of Narbonne quarterback Luis Garcia and a Gaucho false start on third down killed each drive.

“We broke down every time we got down [inside the 30 yard line],” Wilson said. “We didn’t have that knockout punch. I felt like each time we left something on the field.”

Peninsula’s balanced offense gained 296 combined yards.

Quarterback Greg Beal connected on all eight of his passes for 105 yards, including a 26-yard touchdown pass to Durbin for Peninsula’s second score. Six Panther running backs combined for 191 yards on 29 carries.

Even Peninsula’s defense outscored Narbonne; Rob Meissner intercepted a Garcia pass and ran it back 45 yards for the Panthers’ final score of the game.

“Our defense did a tremendous job,” Peninsula Coach Gary Kimbrell said.

“We played patiently, didn’t panic when we were out of position a couple of times and played smart.”

With the loss the Gauchos, the Times’ seventh-ranked team in the City Section, will most likely fall out of the poll.

Peninsula, however, made a strong case for making its way in the Southern Section poll. The Panthers have yet the surrender a point this season.