Falcons knock off top-seed Santa Ana
Palmdale wins quarterfinal, heads to semifinals
PALMDALE — For the first two quarter the Palmdale football team couldn’t solve the riddle of the Santa Ana rushing attack.
But fortunately for the Falcons, there was still another half of football to play.
Palmdale picked up its defense in the second half, playing a near flawless two quarters, and sent the Saints marching back to Santa Ana with a 21-14 upset victory over the top seed in CIF-Southern Section Division 10 in the quarterfinals, Friday night, at Palmdale High School.
“We challenged them at halftime. If we could get stop defensively, the offense would take care of itself,” Falcons head coach Anthony Coleman said. “I’m feeling very excited. I told the kids we just have to continue to go 1-0 each week.”
With the victory, the Falcons (8-4) will travel to Salesian (93) next Friday night. Salesian defeated Sunny Hills, 28-3, in the other quarterfinal game, Friday night.
“These guys came together. Now we have to get back to work tomorrow,” Coleman said. “These last two weeks we played as a team. I was really excited the way the defense stepped up in the second half. They took care of business.”
It really was a tale of two halves.
The Saints (8-3) lead 14-6 at halftime. They outgained Palmdale 180-84 in the first two quarters, and their time of possession more than doubled that of the Falcons. One drive by Santa Ana in the first half chewed up 9½ minutes, one minute to end the first quarter and 8½ minutes to open the second. However, that was halted as it turned the ball over on downs inside the Falcons red zone.
The second half was much different as the Falcons outscored Santa Ana, 15-0. They also kept Jayderick Garcia and Stephen Hughes in check.
Garcia and Hughes combined for 147 yards on 30 carries in the first half. In the second half, Garcia and Hughes equaled 59 yards on 18 carries.
“We came out ready to play in the second half and we did our job,” Palmdale quarterback Roman Mercado said. “In the first half we were shaky, but we executed in the second half. Before the game (against Lancaster) we had a shaky week of practice. But these last two weeks we became more of a team.”
Mercado tossed for 108 yards passing and one touchdown. Demario Jackson was the main offensive threat as he rushed for 71 yards on nine carries and a score and caught four passes for 38 yards and another touchdown. He also had a key interception in the second half, which led to Palmdale’s touchdown in the third quarter.
“In the second half, we came out strong and came together as one — we were able to figure things out,” Jackson said. “On Monday, we’ll come with our lunch pails ready to work. We knew what time it was.”
Palmdale’s first score came in the first quarter following a shovel pass from Mercado to Jackson, who did the rest and scored from 14 yards out. The failed PAT cut the Saints lead to 7-6.
“It was an all-out defensive game, but we made it count when it mattered,” Palmdale’s Amir Bastine said. “This definitely wasn’t our best game, but in the second half we did our thing. We keyed on their best players (Garcia and Hughes). We’re just excited to move on to next week.”
Following Jackson’s interception in the third quarter, the Falcons marched down the field. A 50-yard pass from Mercado to Mark Edwards to the 3-yard line set up Bastine’s touchdown on the next play. The two-point conversion tied the score, 14-14.
Palmdale took that momentum into the fourth quarter. On the Falcons’ next drive, they were at it again. A methodical drive mixed the run and the pass and a 26-yard run by Jackson put the ball on the 4-yard line. On the next play from the Wildcat formation, Jackson scored from four yards out, giving Palmdale the lead for good.