Rocco Gentile flew as he broke away from the defense at the 50-yard line, and the crowd counted down, “40, 30, 20, 10,” as the Terra Nova High School senior crossed the goal line.
With under a minute to go in the first half of Terra Nova’s opening regulation game of the season against Santa Clara High School, Gentile’s 92-yard touchdown put the Tigers up 28-13 at the break.
“I thought I was going to get caught,” said Gentile. “I looked back a few times, noticed I was good, and then the adrenaline kicked in and started celebrating. It was great.”
Gentile was a regular in the end zone in Friday night's 42-21 victory over the Bruins, and while he seemed to be no stranger to the spotlight, the senior was out for redemption.
“This is definitely something I’ve been looking forward to because I didn’t get the most playing time last year,” he said. “I feel great. I did what I needed to do.”
Gentile won’t be the only player to watch this season. Matteo Corona also contributed to some key advances for the Tigers.
“I just had to get it done,” said Corona. “It was the first game of the season. There was no pressure, I just had to do what I had to do.”
Despite the lopsided final score, the game started out close. After the Tigers put the first points on the board, the Bruins responded, tying it up, 7-7, at the end of the first quarter. In the first minutes of the second, Corona ran for 35 yards to set up Gentile for a touchdown, putting the Tigers back in the lead.
The Tigers kept the Bruins to 15 yards on their next possession before regaining possession at the 42-yard line. Steve Dalton advanced the ball to the 35-yard line, before Corona took it home, putting the Tigers up 21-7.
Armed with a healthy lead, the Tigers showed no signs of slowing down. Touchdowns by Gentile, Dalton and Corona in the second half sealed the Bruins’ fate, and the Tigers walked out with their first win of the season.
“If we play the way we just played, we’re going 10-0,” said Gentile.
Up next, Terra Nova takes on Lincoln High School at 7 p.m. on Friday at home. The Tigers’ first league competition will be at 7 p.m. on Oct. 7 against Carlmont High School at home.
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