Posted: Nov 22, 2021
GCC Football comes from behind to beat College of the Desert 34-30 on run by Nick Garcia
As if time was standing still and the entire season came down to making a play with less than a minute left in the game against College of the Desert on the road Friday Nov. 19, the Vaqueros did just that in a come from behind season ending victory in a make-up game that was originally scheduled for Sept. 25.
That play was made by freshman quarterback Nick Garcia, who scored on a one-yard run with 32 seconds left to give the Vaqs a 34-30 win to finish the 2021 season 6-4 and make the long bus ride back to Glendale a little bit more tolerable. "The players kept fighting and they didn't blame each other when things weren't working,'' said Interim Head Coach Tanner Farwell. "They just stayed together and kept fighting back to win the game.''
Besides his game winning scoring run, Garcia passed for 288 yards and two touchdown passes on 27 of 42. Nick Johnson was on the receiving end of 11 passes from Garcia for 93 yards and one score with Artis Cole and Caleb Snowden had five catches each with Snowden getting 79 yards and Cole getting 49 yards and one touchdown. Chuck Shull led the running game with 41 yards on 10 carries and a score and Elijah McGee ran for 37 yards and one touchdown on nine carries.
Absalom Leiva led the defensive effort with 13 tackles, two solo and one forced fumble. Enrique Diaz had nine assisted tackles, Spencer Laurer had eight stops, three solo as well as one recovered fumble and one pass breakup and Ethan Orsono had seven stops, one solo.