Sudden rise: Gunn’s ascent continues as Titans beat MacDonald, improve to 8-0

PALO ALTO — A turnaround season for the ages continued for Gunn on Friday night as the Titans defeated MacDonald 41-13 to improve to 8-0.

A most welcome turn of events for head coach Dethrick Slocum after 0-10 and 3-7 seasons his first two years at the school.

“These guys have come together,” Slocum said. “They trust the system, they trust me as the head coach. This is a system we’ve had in place for the third year now and they’ve figured it out. They’re playing with high intensity and just doing a great job out there.”

Big plays were the story Friday night in the homecoming win over MacDonald. Sam Dellenbach returned two kickoffs for touchdowns. Luke Hines only carried twice, but both went for touchdowns on runs of 63 and 52 yards. Andre Lee ripped off a 46-yard scoring run.

As a result of the quick strikes, the Titans had the ball for only 25 offensive plays compared to 47 for the Condors.

MacDonald quarterback Moussa Fall established a career high in passes attempted with 23 — by halftime. He finished 19 of 31 for 232 yards and two touchdowns. Dom Hunt made 11 catches for 99 yards. Ethan Bugarin had four receptions for 87 yards, including a 30-yard TD, in the first half before suffering an injured shoulder that kept him out the rest of the game.

Scoring 13 points was something of an accomplishment for the first-year varsity program as Gunn went into the game on the heels of five consecutive shutouts and had allowed a grand total of eight points in its first seven games.

“Definitely a step in the right direction, but we don’t really count moral victories,” MacDonald coach Burt Codera said. “We’re a young team without any seniors, but we see the level it takes to be a division champion. We battled for two and a half quarters before the wheels fell off.”

Fall connected with John Leonard on a 6-yard touchdown pass at the end of the second quarter to bring the Condors within 21-13 at halftime. But Dellenbach returned the second-half kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown, giving him three kickoff returns for touchdowns in Gunn’s last two games.

And then on Gunn’s first offensive possession of the second half, Hines broke a 52-yard scoring run. Gunn added a safety and a 43-yard field goal by Anthony Marin to close out the scoring.

The Titans are now 6-0 in Peninsula Athletic League Lake Division play with key games still to come with third-place Saratoga (5-1-1) and first-place Jefferson, which is 7-0 after a 24-0 win Friday over Saratoga.

“We have a really strong senior class,” said Hines, who had two sacks to go with his two long touchdown runs. “Last year we were 2-0 at the start of the season, lost a game and everyone lost hope, lost confidence in the program. This year, there’s only 25 of us, but we use all 25, that’s our motto. We see the vision our coach has and we work hard at every practice.”