By Tony Solorzano
(Whittier) – El Rancho rebounded from a loss to league leader La Serna by erased a 14-10 halftime deficit with 17 unanswered points in the third quarter to knock off Pioneer 27-20 Friday night at Titan Stadium.
Tony Botello’s streak of games with 100 or more yards was broken as the Dons(5-2, 1-1) limited the junior rusher to only 81 yards, but he did score twice in the loss for the Titans (4-3, 1-1) as the school celebrated its 50th anniversary and Homecoming.
The last six minutes of the second quarter provided the most of the action for Pioneer. After Allen Infante kicked a 28-yard field goal with 4:01 left in the first, the Titans launched a 55-yard drive in 14 plays, punctuated by Botello’s two-yard touchdown with 5:28 left in the half, giving them a 7-3 lead.
The Dons responded on the next possession as Andrew Romero took a handoff and rushed 37 yards for the go-ahead score with 3:54 left. The Titans answered again on the following possession, going 71 yards in 3:07, as Daniel Castro hit Paul Alvarez from 14 yards out to retake the lead with 41.3 seconds left, but a final attempt by El Rancho stalled as time expired, giving the Titans the 14-10 lead at the half.
As the third quarter began, Daniel Moriel’s kick return to open the half was a premonition of things to come in the quarter, taking the ball at the goal line and running back to midfield to start the third. Quarterback Troy Campos took advantage of the generous spot on the second play of the opening drive as he took a quarterback sneak and found a hole, rushing 42 yards for the go-ahead score 47 seconds into the quarter.
On the ensuing possession, the Dons’ defense pinned the Titans on their own 22 yard line, forcing them to punt. On the return, Romero took the punt at the Titan 44 and broke through the line, taking the ball into the end zone and increasing the lead to 10 points with 9:35 left. Pioneer was forced to punt again, this time Moriel took the punt and returned it to the Titan 9-yard line. However, the Titan defense finally stiffened and the Dons settled for a 27-yard field goal from Infante, giving the Dons a 27-14 lead.
But the Dons were not done. After stopping the Dons with 4:34 left in the game, the Titans got the ball back at their own 25-yard line. Castro then engineered a 10-play drive, which benefitted from two El Rancho penalties to keep their drive alive. Botello capped the drive with a two-yard rush for his second score with 2:30 left in the game. However, the point after attempt by Edie Aguirre was wide and the Dons’ lead was cut to 27-20.
The Titans got the ball back with 1:23 left in the game, but Castro’s run was stopped at the Titan 45-yard line as time ran out, giving the Dons the win and creating a four-way tie for second place.
Despite scoring twice, Botello was held to 81 yards on 24 carries, his lowest total to date for the Titans. Castro went 13 for 29 for 125 yards. He threw one touchdown and was picked off by Moriel late in the third. For El Rancho, Campos only completed two passes, to Moriel and Freddie Garcia, for 21 yards. Ronnell Lone led the offense on the ground with 14 carries for 70 yards, while Romero ran four times for 42 yards and a score. Campos also rushed four times for 39 yards and a score, while Moriel broke 100 yards rushing on special teams, including his 44-yard score.
The Dons head home to take on the Condors of Cal High while the Titans close out their home schedule against league leader La Serna. Both games are Friday night.
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