Spartans run out of miracles, drop second in a row
EL CAJON — Despite delivering all manner of clutch plays, the Central Union football team couldn’t conjure one that the Christian Patriots wouldn’t answer, and in the end, they ran out of miracles, falling here, 31-28, Friday night.
The Spartans had a goal line pick six, a nearly 70-yard screen and score with less than a minute to spare in the first half, a 90-yard touchdown drive in the waning moments of the fourth quarter, and a successful onside kick recovery. But no matter what they pulled out of their hat, the Patriots had a response, thanks to a determined ground attack and strong special teams.
This game was one of those easily condensed into a series of flashpoint moments.
Christian had the first — a 92yard kickoff return by Jack St. Fleur to drop the Spartans into a 7-0 hole before they had time to get their feet under them.
Things looked especially bad for Central when their response to this early haymaker was to stall out on o ense and punt it away.
Luckily for Sparta, Angel Nava-Esparza was there to equalize things.
With the Pats crushed up against their own end zone, the senior linebacker made a spectacular read of Christian QB Gabe Krug, leaping between him and halfback Christian Salacup — whom Krug was targeting on a flare route — to intercept the ball and take it to the house from 9 yards out.
Passing, as it turned out, was not Krug’s main bag.
Despite frequently lining up in the spread, the Patriots proved to be a run-first team, with Krug leading the way with 18 carries.
Salacup wasn’t far behind in usage. He would finish with 15 carries, including one that went for a score from 1 yard out to cap a 72-yard drive that followed Nava-Esparza’s interception.
Central came up empty on their next two drives (to make it three straight with zero points) before their offense finally found itself after a 24-yard field goal pushed the Patriot lead out to 10.
With around three minutes to go in the half, Nava-Esparza was able to reach the promised land a second time on a 1-yard run … only for Salacup and Krug to team up to make it 24-14 on an 18-yard Krug keeper hardly a minute later.
Up against the wall, with hardly any time left before intermission, the Spartans got a big play from senior receiver Michael Sullivan, who took a short screen from quarterback Deniro Osuna and housed it from 69 yards out — breaking no fewer than four tackles in the process.
As impressive as the play was, however, it seemed to do little for Central’s second-half momentum.
Their offense stalled again coming out of the break, and Christian was able to push the lead back out to 31-21 on a 48-yard Krug power play midway through the third.
It wasn’t until late — very late — in the fourth quarter that the Spartans came alive on offense again (their defense tightened up considerably after Krug’s last run, picking up a number of key stops including one on fourth down in the Spartan red zone), with Osuna running a nice two-minute drill ending on a 10-yard completion to freshman Skyler Cook for six plus a PAT.
Then came Central’s onside kick recovery. It was impressive. They got the ball at the 45-yard line. But there were only three seconds left and Osuna’s Hail Mary found nary a Spartan receiver as Central’s luck ran out, and their wild ride reached a disappointing conclusion.
The loss gives the Spartans two in a row, and may give some pause about the Spartans Imperial Valley League prospects, which seemed so rosy after their triumphant Weeks 1 to 3.
However it must be remembered that Christian is anything but a cupcake. They’re a CIF-SDS Division II school that has won 10 section titles through the years. The week before they met Central they rag-dolled the Monte Vista Monarchs — the same Monarchs that nearly upended Imperial on Friday — 43-7 on the Monarchs own field. They’re a tough team, and Central nearly beat them.
Still, there’s no denying that Spartans stumbles have fogged up the IVL crystal ball considerably.
The team has a bye next week and will be off until Oct. 4, when they travel to Calexico for their league opener.