By Tony Solorzano
(La Habra) – Two second half touchdowns took Sonora to their fourth straight victory as they knocked off California 34-14 Thursday night at La Habra High.
What looked to be a shootout at the end of the first half turned into another defensive collapse for the Condors (0-3) as Drew Castro continued his stint as Cal quarterback while Adam Contreras continues his recovery from a shoulder injury suffered against Rowland two weeks before.
The game looked promising early on for the Condors after kicker Nick Porter missed a 31-yard field goal attempt and a point after on the first score for the Raiders (4-0), a two-yard run by senior fullback Baba Eko, midway through the first quarter.
The Condors took the lead early in the second quarter as they capped an eight-play, 78-yard drive with a stunning double reverse, wide receiver option flea flicker from senior Ben Stiepak to Maximo Gonzales for 55 yards and a brief 7-6 lead. Ironically, the play before the touchdown pass foreshadowed the Condors’ night.
After Andrew Klein’s handoff was stopped for a one-yard loss, Castro connected with him on a screen pass at the Raider 45, but as he reached the 30, the ball was knocked out of his hands and flew backwards towards mid-field. Lineman Joseph Zuniga recovered the ball back at the 45, which set up Stiepak’s throw.
However, that lead would vanish on the next possession as starting quarterback Zachary Ouderkerken connected on a 47-yard throw to one half of Sonora’s “Big Mac Attack,” senior Jacob McCarthy, giving the Raiders the 13-7 lead, which they would not surrender again.
Ouderkerken connected again, this time on a 14-yard throw to wide receiver Nico DiVincenzo with 22.6 seconds left in the half, but the Condors were not done. With time running down, Castro hit Stiepak at mid-field and he found a wide gap along the western sidelines, evading two tackles as he reached the end zone with 1.1 seconds left in the half, closing the score to 20-14 as the half ended. The Condors would get no closer to the lead again that night.
In the third quarter, Ouderkerken put the game out of reach on the Raiders’ first possession of the half. After being pushed to the Raiders’ own 30 on a holding penalty, Ouderkerken connected for 40 yards to Enrique Vasquez who went deep into Condor territory. The Raider ground game took over as Eko took the handoff seven of 10 times rushing for 27 of the 30 yards needed to score, taking the ball in from a yard out to give the Raiders a 27-14 lead with 3:28 left in the quarter.
Ouderkerken connected one last time early in the fourth, completing a short four-play drive of 51 yards that started with a minute left in the third. After two rushes by Matthew Villasenor put the Raiders on the Cal 37-yard line, Ouderkerken opened the fourth with a 12 yard run after getting chased out of the pocket. He then fired a strike on the next play to Alex Villagomez for a 25-yard pass with 11:25 left in the game, closing out the scoring.
Castro went 11 for 19 for 127 yards and a touchdown. He had no interceptions but was sacked three times for a total of 26 yards. Ouderkerken went 10 for 17 for 220 yards and threw two touchdowns. Eko carried the ball only 11 times for 45 yards but scored twice. Justin Dankert and Andrew Klein carried the bulk of the ground attacks, with Klein carrying seven times for 51 yards and Dankert getting 12 carries for 42 yards.
The Raiders close out their non-league schedule against Rancho Alamitos while the Condors will continues their non-league schedule by hosting defending Almont League champ Schurr next Thursday at Whittier District Field.
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