Wild, wild finish
Strathmore wins in double OT
Hilmar High School thought they had the game won in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s CIF North Regional Division 6-AA play-in game against the visiting Strathmore team after kicking a field goal to push the Yellowjackets out to an 38-30 lead, but the Spartans were nowhere near ready to throw in the towel.
The Central Section Div. VI champion Spartans (14-0, 5-0 East Sequoia League) came back from an 8-point deficit to defeat the Sac-joacquin champion Yellowjackets (8-6, 2-3 Trans Valley League) 53-52 in double overtime to continue on their road back to the CIF State title game.
After turning the ball over on Hilmar’s 5-yard line, SHS junior defensive end Jadon Guire stripped the ball from Hilmar running back Justin Rentfro and helped give the ball back to Strathmore inside the Yellowjacket’s 5-yard line with 1 minute and 13 seconds left in the game. From the 4-yard line, Strathmore running back Joseph Garcia ran the ball in and then ran in the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 38 with 1:09 to go.
“That was intense,” Guire said. “It’s hard to find words to explain what happened right now. We were just battling and battling. They kicked that field goal to make it up by eight points and they said the game was over and I went up to the line and I said this game isn’t over. We came back and we pounded the ball in and we just kept, pounding it out and we came out with the W.”
On the first play of overtime, Strathmore’s Alonso Acevedo ran in a 25-yard touchdown and Osvaldo Ibarra made the PAT to extend the lead to 45-38, but a 9-yard Hilmar rushing touchdown and a successful Yellowjacket PAT tied the game again.
Hilmar’s first drive of the second overtime resulted in a quick 13-yard touchdown run and a made PAT that left the Strathmore fans nearly silent.
Getting the ball back, Strathmore took it from the 25-yard line to the 7-yard line where they were stalled until on 3rd and 7, quarterback Nick Salas ran the ball down the right sideline and while being knocked out of bounds — dove for endzone pylon and scored a touchdown.
Confident in star running back Joseph Garcia, the Spartans went for 2 again and scored the game-winning points.
“When we were on offense we were definitely going to go for 2,” SHS head coach Jeromy Blackwell said. “That’s a long trip [home]…we’re going for 2. We’re going to put all of our money on our premier back [Garcia] and we’re going to bounce him on the strong side of our offensive line. I’ve been doing this for 18 years. That doesn’t always happen. We got lucky.”
Garcia finished with 239 yards and five touchdowns on 29 carries including a 24-yard touchdown on the opening drive set up by a 76-yard kick return by Acevedo. Late in the first half, he scored on a 31-yard touchdown reception that put the Spartans up 14-0 before Hilmar answered with a 5-yard touchdown with 9 seconds left in the quarter.
The game stayed in Strathmore’s favor thanks to a 25-yard field goal by Enrique Gomez and a 14-yard touchdown by Garcia, but Hilmar took the lead on the first drive of the third quarter with an 11-yard touchdown from Travis Maynard and then held the Spartans scoreless for the rest of the quarter.
A 13-yard yard touchdown from Rentfro in the fourth quarter added to the lead, but a quick score from Garcia on a 25-yard touchdown run with 7 minutes to go in the game cut the Yellowjackets’ lead to 35-30. And a missed 37-yard field goal by Hilmar’s Bryan Millan with less than 3 minutes in the game helped begin the Spartans impressive comeback.
Strathmore will learn who and where it plays next on Sunday.