Gauchos rally in fourth, edge Pilots
WILMINGTON » More than an hour before kickoff, the Banning and Narbonne football coaching staffs were not shy about letting the other side know how they felt coming into Thursday's contest at Banning High.
First, there were no handshakes exchanged and both teams exchanged words across the field. Banning was upset that Narbonne showed up in its green home jerseys and the coaching staffs traded verbal jabs.
Narbonne ultimately had the final word at the end.
The Gauchos erased an 11-point, fourth-quarter deficit as kicker Jonathan Martinez converted a game-winning, 30-yard field goal inside the final minute to give Narbonne a 22-21 win over the Pilots in Marine League play.
Immediately after the game, players and coaches from both teams had to be restrained.
“We can't win like that,” Narbonne coach Malcolm Manuel said. “We don't want to win like that. We've got to be better, no matter what the talk is. We have to be much better than that.”
Banning coach Raymond Grajeda was still ticked off about the jersey situation after the game.
“They show up in home jerseys, we're in home jerseys,” Grajeda said. “We're in a competition here. It's a fair competition, right? Just show up like you're supposed to show up. So, already from the beginning there's an issue. If I can show up to every game in a home jersey, would that be good for the sport or not?
“So this is the type of team we're dealing with. No respect, they leave trash on the field. … I'm about the game, I'm about the competition, I'm about the kids. These guys are about themselves, and I knew it because they wore their home jerseys. So right off the bat, that's the type of team we're dealing with.”
Narbonne (4-4, 1-1), which lost its Marine League opener 27-7 last week at Carson, stopped a two-game skid.
Banning (3-4, 0-1) came in ranked ninth in the latest Daily Breeze Top 15 area poll.
The Pilots' final drive was derailed partly by some miscommunication.
Grajeda said the plan was to execute a play-action pass, but quarterback Robert Guerrero handed off to running back Jordan Villanueva on fourth-and-3 from the Narbonne 46yard line and the run came up a yard short.
Grajeda said it was the team's inability to capitalize off a pair of Narbonne fumbles that was a bigger factor in the loss.
“We were able to get some turnovers, we didn't do anything with the turnovers,” Grajeda said.
Banning had built its lead because of Guerrero's performance. He scored three rushing touchdowns, including the TD that extended Banning's lead to 21-10 with 1:35 left in the third quarter.
Narbonne started its comeback on a safety, with linebacker Oscar Arroyo credited with a partial tackle with 9:47 remaining.
After the teams traded turnovers, the Gauchos pulled within 21-19 midway through the final quarter on quarterback Deshawn Laporte's 7-yard touchdown throw to receiver Xavier Owens.
Banning was unable drain much time off the clock on its possession, and Narbonne got the ball back with 3:42 left, setting up the drive that led to Martinez's heroics.
It was his second 30-yard field goal of the game.
“We persevered,” Manuel said. “We fought. We had some issues but we played well enough and did what we had to do. We'll take the win.
“(Martinez) is as cold as ice, man. That stuff doesn't rattle him.”
Banning took a 7-0 lead on a 2-yard Guerrero keeper inside the final minute of the opening quarter.
The score was set up by Guerrero's key 11-yard run on the preceding play.
On the next series, the Pilots then forced a fumble recovered by Andrew Devoe as the Gauchos were driving inside the red zone.
A Guerrero 43-yard TD run was negated by a holding call midway through the second quarter.