Buchanan wide receiver Austin Arroyo didn’t expect to play crunch time defense against the defending Division I-AA state champions.
But when one of the Bears’ starting safeties went down, Arroyo stepped up and snagged a momentum-shifting interception at Buchanan’s own 1-yard line with four minutes left in a 28-28 tie with Central.
92 yards later, with three seconds remaining on the clock, Arroyo lined up to attempt the game-winning field goal.
Buchanan has done it. They’ve beaten Central and snapped the Grizzlies’ 22-game TRAC winning streak. Austin Arroyo with the GW field goal as time expired. 31-28 final. @bhs_sports13 @buchananbear_fb @ClovisRoundup pic.twitter.com/Xy3Se7EZva
— Gabe Camarillo (@gabecamarillo_) March 27, 2021
“We were really confident in him,” said Buchanan head coach Matt Giordano. “He’s Mr. Iceman.”
Arroyo’s 17-yard field goal sailed through the uprights as time expired and giddy Buchanan players spilled onto the field. The Bears defeated Central on Friday, 31-28, to end the Grizzlies’ 22-game TRAC winning streak dating back to 2015.
“I’m just happy for the players,” Giordano said. “They fought hard for four quarters and fought all the way to the end. It was just a great battle on both sides and I’m happy that we came out on top.”
On a night where Central and Buchanan saw its star quarterbacks take over, an unheralded hero in Arroyo made the biggest plays of the game.
“[Coaches] knew that everyone was going to play a major role,” Arroyo said. “My friend Cam [Bracha] got hurt so I had to step in at safety and made the interception which led to the game-winning drive.”
Arroyo picked off Central quarterback D.J. Stevenson, who led the Grizzlies to Buchanan’s 16-yard line and threw the interception on 3rd-and-8.
It was Stevenson’s only turnover of the game. The former Buchanan Bear passed when he needed to, but he mostly hurt his former team with his legs — Stevenson rushed for 202 yards on 32 carries.
“D.J. is D.J. That’s who he is,” Giordano said of Stevenson, who transferred out of Buchanan during the offseason. “He’s a phenomenal athlete. He played as hard as he possibly could. We wish him the best and hope he has a bright future ahead.”
When one quarterback transferred out, another transferred in, and Jayden Mandal — originally from Clovis North — proved to be quite the catch for Buchanan on Friday night.
The sophomore quarterback passed for 223 yards and three touchdowns, as well as another touchdown on the ground.
Mandal made all kinds of throws — short throws to wheel and flat routes, intermediate crossing routes or deep balls to the wideouts. He picked apart Central’s secondary for stretches of the game, but he deflected praise to his teammates.
“Our O-Line blocked great, our receivers came up with some really good catches and the playcalls were amazing, so that’s what happened,” Mandal said.
Mandal connected with Stephen Shelley for an 11-yard touchdown pass to give the Bears a 7-0 lead with 7:37 left in the first quarter.
The touchdown came with a short field due to Central, on fourth down at their own 24-yard line, failing to punt the ball away. The Bears tackled the punter back at the 11-yard line and scored two plays later.
Central answered with an 80-yard drive capped by Ah’Marion Gaines-Smith running in a one-yard touchdown run with 37 seconds left in the first quarter.
Buchanan took a 14-7 lead on its next possession, when Hayden Petersen was sent in pre-snap motion and left wide-open for an eight-yard touchdown pass from Mandal.
Buchanan’s lead lasted less than three minutes, as Central again answered with a touchdown of its own. Stevenson found wide receiver Ladainian Streets open on a slant for a 9-yard touchdown pass, tying the game at 14 with 7:32 left in the second quarter.
Mandal showed off his arm and accuracy on Buchanan’s next drive with 22 and 32-yard completions to Arroyo, putting the Bears deep inside Central territory. Mandal broke loose for a 17-yard scramble. Then, he threw his third touchdown pass of the first half to Josiah Ayon from five yards out.
Buchanan carried a 21-14 lead into halftime, but Central threatened to tie the game again. Central wide receiver Braylen Hall scored on a 30-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
Josiah Ayon blocked the following PAT, however, ensuring Buchanan a 21-20 lead. The Bears extended it to 28-20 when Mandal scored on a 4th-and-goal quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line.
The Grizzlies erased their eight-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter. Running back Aidan Fortnenberry punched in a two-yard touchdown and Central converted the two-point conversion.
The Bears went three-and-out and Central appeared primed to take the lead, at least with a field goal, inside Buchanan’s red zone.
Arroyo had different plans, making the interception for the only takeaway of the game for either team.
Buchanan never relinquished possession, converting on third down at its 1-yard line when Central’s Sahil Sihota was flagged for pass interference. A roughing the passer penalty later in the drive helped Buchanan as well, pushing the Bears into field goal range.
Central head coach Kyle Biggs was forced to call all of his timeouts. Buchanan ran the clock down to three seconds to set up Arroyo’s game-winning kick.
Central tried to ice the kicker, but Arroyo gained more confidence after making the first attempt.
“I was kind of nervous after the first kick, but once it went in, I knew I could make it,” Arroyo said. “I knew I could make it again and it worked.”
As Buchanan celebrated on the field, with TV cameras and interviews and surprise ice baths, there seemed to be an extra sense of joy among the Bears’ players.
Central, after all, was the team that Buchanan chased in the TRAC for the previous three seasons.
And on Friday, the Bears finally caught them.