Back to the finals
It took heart, grit and believing in one another, but Strathmore High School’s football team got the job done and are bringing the CIF Central Section Division VI championship game back to Spartan Stadium where they’ll look to defend their Valley title for the second year in a row.
The undefeated, top-seeded Spartans (12-0, 5-0 East Sequoia League) brought home another win Friday night by taking down the fifth-seeded Cardinals of Orosi (8-4, 3-0 East Sierra League) in a 28-20 Div. VI semifinal that was much closer than Strathmore’s 35-13 rout in week four.
“We haven’t had trouble with hunger, but I think that football team came out very hungry,” SHS head coach Jeromy Blackwell said. “I think we’ve had two scares in a row and it’s hard to get up for a team after you’ve beaten them once and especially in the fashion that we had beaten them.”
Both Strathmore and Orosi scored touchdowns in one quarter in the first half with the Spartans holding onto a short 14-12 lead to start the third quarter.
The Cardinals were in no shape to back down and on the first drive of the third quarter they moved the ball from their own 8-yard line to the Spartans’ 3-yard line thanks to good runs from running back Jerry Huerta and a 15-yard reception from Gary Huerta to Chris Huerta.
But on fourth-down OHS kicker Daniel Corpus missed the field goal that would’ve given Orosi the lead. Corpus also missed a PAT in the second quarter.
Turning the ball over to Strathmore, the Spartans scored with two minutes left in the quarter on a 20-yard pass from SHS quarterback Nick Salas to wide receiver Amando Rodriguez who was being dragged down by an Orosi defender while reaching out for the end zone. Strathmore then forced Orosi to punt on the next drive after Rodriguez, Joseph Garcia, and Alonso Acevedo all nearly picked off OHS quarterback Gary Huerta.
But on the opening drive of the fourth quarter, a snap over the head of Acevedo during a punt from the Spartans’ 20yard line awarded the Cardinals a safety. Neither team scored on their next drive, but on Orosi’s second possession of the quarter, the Cardinals scored on a 8-yard reception that brought them within a point of the Spartans. Instead of kicking the PAT, Orosi went for 2 and had a pass to the right corner broken up by a solid Strathmore defense.
Getting the ball back
on their 5-yard line, the Spartans moved the ball to their 16-yard line where Acevedo exploded for a 84-yard touchdown run with 2 minutes left to seal the game for Strathmore.
On Orosi’s next drive, Garcia stripped Orosi’s Gary Huerta and recovered the fumble for some icing on the cake.
“A couple guys decided to make big plays,” Blackwell said. “All we’ve preached all week is if it’s meant to be, it’s up to me. That was an awesome game plan. They had us schemed really well and they executed their game plan really well and we had little break downs, one here, one there and I think
Alonso took it upon himself... and he hit that. That was a game-changer.”
Acevedo finished with 102 yards and one touchdown on six carries. Salas was 7-of-9 for 113 yards with one touchdown. Rodriguez had 88 yards and one touchdown on four receptions.
Strathmore struggled on the opening drive of the game which resulted in a four-and-out punt, but made up for it on their next drive with an eightplay drive that started from their own 14-yard line and ended with Garcia rushing for a 10-yard touchdown.
The next Spartans’ drive began from their 27-yard line where Salas connected with Rodriguez who had his Orosi defender beat by a couple of yards for a 46-yard reception. From the Cardinals’ 27yard line, Garcia ran the ball in for his final score of the game. The star back finished with 164 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries.
“I think I did good,” Garcia said. “I started off slow, there was a couple of tackles I should’ve broke, but I don’t know, I was just running scared in the beginning.”
In the second quarter it was all Orosi as the Cardinals came stomping back and scored on the first drive of the quarter on a Jerry Huerta 4-yard run. The Cardinals weren’t finished and on their next drive — a 15-play drive that started from their own 20-yard line — Jerry Huerta scored again on a 1-yard run.
Blackwell said he was proud of his defense that was able to prevent the
Huerta the brothers from getting big runs. Garcia and Andres Lara had the main jobs of protecting the edges and keeping everything contained to the middle.
“The coaches said it was going to be up to me and Andy and it was,” Garcia said. “We had big plays, keeping the running back to stay in. Our linebackers did good, Noah [Alcantar], Damian [Valencia] and Eddie [Trujillo]. They filled, they got the tackles. Then big Luke [Raya] and Shaylan [Singh] and Bobby [Alvarez] and Ethan [De La Cruz] were flying through the holes — getting to the quarterback, getting to the running back.”
Up next Strathmore hosts second-seeded Rosamond (11-1, 3-0 High Desert League) in the Valley championship game Friday, Nov. 24 at Strathmore.
DIV. IV
Kerman 39 Monache 34
Monache High School football fell behind early and was able to comeback and take the lead against Kerman on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Valley playoffs, but could not stop the Lions’ ground game late.
The fourth-seeded Lions (10-1) ousted the visiting 12th-seeded Marauders 39-34 in the CIF Central Section Div. IV football playoffs.
All of Kerman’s touchdowns were runs by either Christopher Acosta or Sean Chambers. Chambers ran for two scores in the fourth quarter to rally the Lions.
Trailing 34-33, Kerman ran in the game-winning
touchdown with less than 2 minutes to go and then recovered a onside kick.
Monache (4-7) would get one more shot after forcing Kerman to turn the ball over on downs at the MHS 19-yard line with under a minute left, but ran out of time.
Early on the game was not shaping up to be a shootout, as Kerman jumped out to a 14-0 halftime lead.
But Monache got its offense going in the second half and Kerman continued to chew up yards and the teams combined to score 59 points over the final two quarters.
Acosta rushed for a 5-yard touchdown midway through the first quarter and Sean Chambers ran for a 2-yard TD in the second quarter to give the Lions a 14-0 lead at halftime.
The passing of MHS quarterback Antonio Andrade in the third quarter led to 27 points and Monache’s first lead of the game 27-21.
Monache closed to within 14-6 early in the third quarter after Andrade connected with Montrece Fields for a touchdown. The point after was missed.
The Lions struck right back on their next possession as Acosta broke free for a 50-yard TD run to push the lead to 21-6.
Monache kept the pressure on with another Andrade passing TD, 30 yards, midway through the third quarter, but a failed 2-point conversion left the Marauders trailing 21-12.
With less than 5 minutes to go in the third quarter, Monache struck for two scores — Andrade passing for his third TD of the quarter and Monache rushing for a touchdown — and took its first lead of the game, 27-21 after a successful 2-point pass conversion.
Chambers added a 10yard rushing TD to tie the game at 27 with 8 minutes left in the game. The Lions could have taken the lead, but missed the extra point kick.
Fields regained the lead for the Marauders thanks to a 50-yard touchdown run with 4 minutes left in the fourth. A successful PAT pushed the lead to 34-27.
Chambers once again answered for the Lions with an 80-yard rushing TD moments later, but Kerman’s 2-point attempt failed leaving the score 34-33.
Kerman advances to play top-seeded Golden West (9-2) on Nov. 24 in Visalia. The Trailblazers dispatched Roosevelt 4934 on Friday.