Prep football: Golden Gate bounces back with strong defensive showing against Riverdale

The Golden Gate High School football team was looking to bounce back from last week's 24-15 loss to Naples last week.

The Titans did in a big way on Friday, shutting out Riverdale 18-0 to earn their second victory of the season.

"They made mistakes tonight but they played with great effort for four quarters and they had confidence the whole time," Golden Gate coach Mike DiGrigoli said. "Even when they made mistakes they didn’t get down on themselves or each other."

"We just looked like a unified club right now and I'm really excited."

After throwing for just 22 yards in the Titans' loss last week, quarterback Jay Herard threw for 219 yards and rushed for 74 yards.

"From the start I just knew we were going to pass the ball a lot after seeing where their defense was," Herard said.

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Nikki Liberal racked up 155 yards on nine catches.

"I'm just nothing without this man (Herard)," Liberal said. "When this guy gets me the ball I've just got to make plays. I'm a playmaker."

"I knew my boy Nikki (Liberal), is 6-foot-2 and if I throw it up he's just going to catch everything," Herard said.

After a defensive stalemate kept the game scoreless for the majority of the first half, Augustin Morales kicked a 41-yard field goal to give the Titans a 3-0 lead.

After recovering a fumbled Raiders snap at the 15, Jouvensly Bazile squeezed in a 6-yard touchdown to give the Titans a 9-0 lead at the half.

Morales pushed the Titans' lead to 12 with a 22-yard field goal in the third quarter.

Following a 22-yard grab by Lawerence Canton from Herard to put the Titans near  the end zone, Nico Schuler punched it in from four yards out to give the Titans an 18-0 lead.

With the Raiders in the red zone with 4:31 left to play in the fourth, the Titans got a stop on fourth down to secure their shutout.

GOLDEN GATE 18, RIVERDALE 0

R 0 0 0 0 -- 0

GG  0 9 3 6 -- 18

Second quarter

GG -- Augustin Morales 41 FG,  2:29

GG -- Jouvensly Bazile 6 run (pass failed), 1:16

Third quarter

GG -- Augustin Morales 32 FG, 7:15

Fourth quarter

GG -- Nico Schuler 4 run (run failed), 7:48