Vikes take back Axe
CALIPATRIA — The annual Axe Game lived up to what a football rivalry game should be as Holtville High scored in the finals seconds of the game to defeat the Calipatria High 27-20 in a thrilling Manzanita League game played at Veterans’ Field here on Thursday night.
First-year Vikings head coach Jason Tuner saw his team comeback from a 14-point deficit to pull off the victory and said he appreciated his team’s effort to return the Axe to Holtville, after losing it to the Hornets last season.
“We have been working on this all season, not to worry about our opponents, but to work as a team and not be our own opponent,” Turner said.
“Calipatria did a great job (Thursday night), but we’re happy to get the Axe back.” A firedup Hornet team drew first blood as they first stopped a fake punt by the Vikings at the Holtville 40-yard line. Six plays later C.J. Zendejas raced 28 yards for a touchdown to give Calipatria a 7-0 lead.
The Hornets then forced the Vikings to go three-and-out and took possession on their own 45-yard line. Running behind a dominating Hornet offensive line, senior quarterback Ismael Lopez lead Calipatria methodically down the field, finishing off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run on a fourth and goal.
Holtville’s next possession started on their own 45-yard line and aided by two penalties, the visitors drove inside the Hornet 20, but again the Calipatria defense held.
Holtville’s special teams then presented the Vikes with a golden opportunity to get on the scoreboard, when it blocked a Hornet punt and recovered it at the Calipatria 8-yard line.
The Vikes, however, had just enough time for one play, which Calipatria’s defense stuffed for no gain to preserve their 14-0 advantage going into half time. Holtville then held the Hornets in the opening drive of the second half after a failed on-side kick. The Vikings then drove 65 yards, pounding the ball from a single-back Wildcat formation, with both Andy Pascual and fellow senior Jacob Leyba rushing the ball, with Leyba finally breaking loose for a 29- yard touchdown run.
Holtville attempted to run a two-point conversion after the score, but the Hornets stopped it short to lead 14-6 with 7:27 left in the third quarter. Holtville then forced the Hornets to punt and again blocked the attempt and recovered it at the Calipatria 12-yard line. On the next play, Pascual ran untouched into the end zone, while Leyba added the two-point conversion and with about one minute left in the third quarter Holtville tied the game 14-14. Both the Hornets and Vikings failed to keep possession on their next drives, but Holtville’s punt resulted in Calipatria taking over at the Holtville 32-yard line. A steady diet of Calipatria’s Lopez set up Zendejas’ second score of the night, a 3-yard run.
The PAT attempt was blocked, but the Hornets had reclaimed the lead, 20-14. The Hornet’s Marco Perez then intercepted a Holtville pass, which appeared to ice the game but Calipatria then fumbled it back, returning possession to the Vikings.
Holtville’s Leyba then ran for consecutive first downs setting up a fourth-down pass to the Hornet 15-yard line.
With 0:24.5 left in the game, Leyba scampered into the end zone for the tying touchdown. “This was sweet … we’ve been practicing for this all season,” Leyba said. “We lost the Axe last year and we knew we had to get it back.” The tie was broken by the Edwin Partida PAT, the Viking’s senior place kicker, who on his first attempt of the game drove the ball through the uprights for the 21-20 win. “I was just thinking, ‘Do your job’ … I wasn’t nervous … I just thought, ‘Put it through the uprights,’” Partida said.
In a Helter-skelter final play after the kick off, the Hornets fumbled the football in the end zone that was then picked up by a Viking and belatedly credited to Holtville, with the touchdown making the final score of the game 27-21. Holtville finishes the regular season with an overall record of 6-4 and 2-1 in Manzanita League play. Calipatria, who only had nine game regular season games, finishes the year with an overall record of 2-7 and Manzanita League mark of 0-3. Both teams now await Saturday’s CIF-San Diego Section playoff seeding meeting, which will determine if they suit up one more time.