(Pomona)– Despite first quarter scores from William Bryan and Marquis Wimberly, Diamond Ranch was shut out of the remaining three quarters as Elsinore claimed a 20-12 victory Thursday night at Pomona District Stadium.
“We had some dropped balls at the wrong time,” Said a visibly upset Layton after the game. “We should have scored more than just 12 points tonight.”
The Panthers got on the board first after getting the ball on a short punt by the Tigers that put them on the Tiger 38. Unable to move past the 38, quarterback Xavier Beltran it Wimberly on fourth-and-10 for a 38-yard score with 7:30 left in the first. However, the point after kick was blocked by the Tigers.
After intercepting Tiger quarterback Tommy Wilson, the Panthers fumbled the ball on another fourth down, with the Tigers recovering the ball at their own 27 yard line. On the possession, the Tigers had three rushes that resulted in first downs, including a quarterback keeper by Wilson that was stopped at the one-yard line. Two plays later, Shane Pico scored with 57 seconds left, but Diego Lopez’s point after attempt was also blocked.
On the next possession, the Panthers got three runs by Bryan, including one for 39 yards, setting up Allen Salguero’s 18-yard run with 1.2 seconds left, giving the Panthers the 12-6 lead at the end of the first. It would be their last lead of the game.
In the second, the Tigers spent the first six minutes of the quarter moving the ball 80 yards in 15 plays, culminating in Pico’s second touchdown with 6:12 left in the half, an eight-yard score. Lopez put the Tigers up for good with his successful point after attempt. The Panthers got a golden opportunity on their next possession when their punt to Allan Stubbs was muffed and the Panthers recovered on the Tiger 43-yard line.
However, the drive stalled on the 25-yard line as Beltran’s pass attempt to Salguero fell short, forcing the turnover with 54 seconds left in the half and the Tigers heading into halftime up 13-12.
The Tigers finished their scoring in the third. After missing on a 35-yard field goal attempt, the Tigers forced the Panthers into a three-and-out punt, with the Tigers returning the ball to the Panther 30. On their first play of that possession, Stubbs rushed 30 yards for the touchdown with 3:56 left in the quarter.
In the fourth, the Panthers had one last opportunity to tie the game. After stopping the Tigers on their own 14-yard line, the Beltran connected on a 12-yard hit to Marcus Briscoe and Bryan rushed for 17 yards to get the Panthers close to mid-field. The Panthers then got a major break as the second of two passes to Wimberly, a 15-yard gain, had a 15-yard penalty against the Tigers tacked on to the end of Wimberly’s pass, putting the Panthers on the Tigers’ 26-yard line. Bryan put the Panthers inside the Tiger red zone with an eight-yard run but a handoff to Salguero in the backfield resulted in a 12-yard loss, putting the Panthers on the Tiger 30-yard line. Beltran’s pass attempt to Salguero fell short and the Tigers took over with 3:34 left and ran out the clock.
The Panthers head into the Montebello Hills to take on Schurr next Friday.
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