Bobcats stop Trojan rally, seal win with interception
The Paradise High School Bobcats opened their Sacramento Valley League schedule on Friday night at Durham High with a nail-biting win.
The Bobcats (3-1, 1-0 in SVL play) were able to leave town with the 21-13 win, but it didn’t come easy against the Trojans, who fell to 2-3 on the year and to 0-2 in SVL play.
Paradise was able to stop the Trojans with an interception inside the Bobcats’ 10-yard line to secure the win.
Durham opened the scoring when Gavin Keene hit Carson Vanilla on a 30-yard touchdown pass to give the host a 6-0 firstquarter lead.
The Trojans tried to extend the lead but the two-point conversion failed.
On the ensuing Bobcat drive, Braden Gonzales connected with Tommy Davis on a 17-yard play to keep their drive alive.
Paradise later converted a fourth down and the drive ended in a 25-yard touchdown run by Taylor Harrison late in the first quarter. That along with Aiden Luna‘s extra point pushed the Bobcats ahead, 7-6.
Both teams then traded possessions, having drives die in the opponent’s territory, as the Bobcats took the one-point lead into the locker room at halftime.
Midway through the third quarter after the teams traded possessions, Paradise forced the Trojans to punt from deep in their own territory.
That set Paradise up inside Trojan territory and Daquan Lamar-Simmons soon scored on a 22-yard run to give the Bobcats a 14-6 lead.
After the Bobcats forced the Trojans to punt again, the Bobcats drove 85 yards to tie the game on a Brady Bettencourt 3-yard TD run late in the third quarter.
Keene’s 30-yard scoring run pulled the Trojans back to within 21-13 with a minute to go and the Trojans recovered the onside kick.
The Trojans were able to drive inside the Bobcats’ 10 before the game-clinching interception,.
Paradise will host East Nicolaus next Friday night while the Trojans will welcome Colusa.