Gilbert turns May River miscues into lopsided playoff result

May River’s debut football season came to a deflating end Friday night, as Gilbert took back a punt return and an interception for touchdowns in rolling to a 58-10 triumph to open the Class 3A playoffs.

Gilbert’s Dylan McNatt opened the scoring for the Indians (10-1) with a punt return less than three minutes into the contest, adding a TD run later in the opening quarter. Manny Bright added two TDs, one rushing and one receiving, and John Fanning took back an interception for another score.

“We looked a little bit like the old May River,” Sharks coach Rodney Summers said with a hint of chagrin. “You can’t do that against good football teams.”

Vance Summers scored on a 15-yard run for the Sharks (2-9), and Ryan Matovich added a field goal in the third quarter. May River had won two of its final three games to finish third in its region.

“We’ve come a long way since that first day at spring practice,” Summers said. “They’ve got a lot of experience now that’s going to be valuable. We can take that into the offseason and know what it takes to compete next year at this level.”

This story was originally published November 19, 2016 at 12:23 AM with the headline "Gilbert turns May River miscues into lopsided playoff result."