2 weeks Ago By THE RECORDER [email protected]
Championship teams aren't always at their best. They're just at their best when the need to be. And the Strathmore High football team was at its best when it need it the most with its season on the line.
And because of that the Spartans will now have the chance to play for an East Sequoia League Championship. And not even a nearby shooting incident close to the game could derail the Spartans on their path to a possible league title. SHS was down 13-3 at halftime at Corcoran but roared back to outscore the Panthers 28-0 in the second half on its way to a 31-13 win on Friday.
Strathmore (7-2, 5-1 in the ESL) can clinch at least a share of the ESL title this Friday with a win at home against rival Lindsay at Spartan Stadium. Corcoran (5-4) fell to 4-2 in the ESL. Strathmore is now tied for first with Woodlake at 5-1 in the ESL as the Tigers rolled to a 43-3 win over Orosi on Friday.
Woodlake ends the season this Friday at home against Granite Hills. Strathmore coach Jeromy Blackwell said there was no panic at halftime. “We just need to execute,” said Blackwell about the message at halftime.
“The message is the same thing.” He added the message to his team at halftime was “you can't get down on yourself.” And the ultimate message continued to be “you've got to go 1-0,” expressing Blackwell's mantra of “1-0 is all that matters.
” And of course the message was “this is championship season.” Isaiah Colunga intercepted a pass at the Spartan 19-yard line to stop a Corcoran threat early in the game. Later Raymond Rodriguez intercepted a pass to stop another Corcoran drive at the SHS 25.
Gerardo Ruiz then made a one-handed catch on a screen pass from Colunga for a huge gain. Strathmore eventually had a first and goal at the 7 but had to settle on Matthew Santizo's 29-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead early in the second quarter. But Corcoran dominated the rest of the second quarter on its way to taking a 13-3 halftime lead.
Strathmore, though, came back to score in the third quarter on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Colunga to Santizo and Santizo, who went 4-of-4 on PATs, added the extra point to pull the Spartans to within 13-10. The turning point of the game came when Corcoran had a first and goal but SHS benefited from two straight holding calls on the Panthers that backed them up to the Spartan 27. Ruiz then intercepted a pass at the SHS 23.
Rodriguez went onto to score on a 40-yard run to give SHS a 17-13 lead in the third quarter. “Raymond Rodriguez really just went off,” said Blackwell about Rodriguez running the ball in the second half. Rodriguez later scored on a 5-yard run to give SHS a 24-13 lead in the fourth quarter.
Rodriguez went onto break free on a 50-yard scoring run for his third touchdown late in the game to finish the scoring and seal the win. SHOOTING INCIDENT On the drive after Colunga's interception shots could be heard near the game, which was delayed for about 20 minutes. Everyone was told to lie down.
“It was kind of weird,” said Blackwell, who added all he could think about was how he was responsible for the safety of his 32 players. Blackwell said he was told by some fans they “heard bullets whiz by.” Eventually the police determined the shooting incident was offsite and not onsite where the game was and the game was allowed to resume.
GRANITE HILLS 30, LINDSAY 16 In its fourth year under coach Carl Scudder the Grizzlies finally came away with a breakthrough win for the program on Friday at Rankin Stadium. “Our league is very tough,” Scudder said. “I would say this is a banner win for us.
” Carlos Zavala kicked a 33-yard field goal for Granite Hills to tie the score 3-3. After Lindsay took a 10-3 lead, the Grizzlies took an 11-10 lead at halftime after Tyson Duckworth scored on a 10-yard run and Diego Garay ran it in for the two-point conversion. The Grizzlies took control in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter.
“Defense especially,” said Scudder about his team controlling the second half. “The defense played really good football in the second half.” The Grizzlies (5-4, 2-4 in the ESL) took a 17-10 lead on Garay's 11-yard touchdown run.
After Lindsay (5-4, 3-3) cut the deficit to 17-16 heading into the fourth quarter, Granite Hills outscored the Cardinals 13-0 in the final period. Garay scored on a 41-yard run to give the Grizzlies a 23-10 lead, then Xavier Fernandez scored on a 30-yard run and Zavala added the extra point to finish the scoring. Duckworth rushed for 119 yards on 28 carries and has now rushed for more than 100 yards in all nine games this season, rushing for more than 1,600 yards on the year.
Garay added 63 yards on six carries and Fernandez had 60 yards on six carries for Granite Hills. GOLDEN WEST 45, MONACHE 7 Golden West rolled to the win at home as it clinched at least a share of the East Yosemite League title, improving to 8-1 and 4-0 in the EYL. Monache fell to 6-3 and 2-2.
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