By Tony Solorzano
Whittier – Frankie Palmer’s game-tying two-point conversion to D’Andre Sanchez erased a 17-9 deficit with less than a minute left in regulation, which allowed La Serna to take a 20-17 victory in overtime to claim the Del Rio crown Friday night at Cal High’s Whittier District Field.
For only the third time in 27 years, the Lancers (9-1, 5-0) claimed the Del Rio crown outright and brought home the Mustang trophy for the third time in the last six meetings of the rivalry game with the Condors (8-2, 3-2), now officially known as “The Battle For The Boulevard.” Lancers head coach Margarito Beltran was estatic over the win.
“It was a hard-fought game tonight and we had to scrap for a win,” said coach Beltran after the game. “But that’s what this game is all about.”
The Lancers drew first blood late in the first quarter as kicker Tavis Guerra booted a 36-yard field goal, putting the Lancers up 3-0 at the end of the quarter. The Lancers increased their lead late in the second quarter. Both teams exchanged a number of possessions, includng a La Serna drive midway through the second quarter that ended with Guerra shanking a 34-yard field goal attempt that would have given the Lancers a 6-0 lead.
The Lancers broke open the score later in the period. After a Condor punt pinned the Lancers on their own nine-yard line, Palmer escaped a potential sack and connected with Auston Johnson midway in the flats and Johnson broke free of tackles en route to a 90-yard score with 2:23 left in the half. However, the Lancers were called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the point after attempt, forcing Guerra to kick again, but the kick was tipped and wobbled left, leaving the Lancers with a 9-0 halftime lead.
The Condors began to come back in the second half, ending the shut out late in the third quarter on their second possession of the half. Eric Amezquita’s 30-yard field goal with 1:39 left in the third started a 17-point run by the Condors in what looked like an incredible comeback.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Condors quarterback Drew Castro engineered a 97-yard drive in three minutes that drove the length of the field, ending with Brian Limon’s 20-yard scoring catch from Castro, putting the Condors up 10-9 with 5:23 left in the game.
The Condors would score again, this time a 25-yard run by Josh Perez that put the Condors up 17-9 with 1:36 left in the game, the Mustang Trophy and a potential co-championship with both the Lancers and the Santa Fe Chiefs seemingly within their grasp. But the Lancers weren’t finished yet, as Palmer would show.
After the Condor kickoff went out of bounds, the Lancers started their drive at their own 35-yard line, with 1:36 and two time outs left. On the drive, Palmer connected twice to MacKenzie Duarte and Johnson, while Nick McCarty added a 12-yard run that put the Lancers inside the Condors’ territory.
Two plays after Palmer’s second pass to Johnson put the lancers in the red zone with less than a minute left, Palmer was chased from the pocket by the Condors’ defense, but he evaded them and hit Matthew Rosales for a 13-yard score, cutting the lead to 17-15 with just 24.3 seconds left.
The Lancers went for the two-point conversion, but as Palmer took the snap, he was immediately swarmed in the backfield and was forced to make a run for the goal line. As the Condors closed in on him, Palmer spotted D’Andre Sanchez near the corner of the end zone and shoveled the pass in his direction.
By what could only be described as an incredible display of balance, Sanchez pulled in the pass and got both feet down before being pushed out of the endzone, securing the two points and tying the game, sending the Lancer crowd, who only minutes before began exiting the stands, into a frenzy. On the ensuing possession, Castro took a knee to run out the clock and send the contest to overtime.
In the overtime, the Condors went on the offensive first, but despite Castro’s efforts, he was sacked for a loss at the 33-yard line, forcing Amezquita to attempt a 50-yard field goal. But once again, the kick couldn’t find the uprights and the Lancers got their chance.
On the Lancers’ try, McCarty got the ball close to the red zone, but Palmer’s two pass attempts to Duarte and Rosales fell just out of reach or were blocked away, setting up Guerra to get the win. Although Guerra had missed earlier from 34 yards out, this time Guerra easily split the uprights from 39 yards out for the win and the undisputed title.
Palmer threw for 262 yards, completing 17 of 32 passes and throwing two touchdowns. Palmer also led the ground game with seven carries for 40 yards. Although he only caught four passes from Palmer, Johnson led the receivers with 134 yards, including his 90-yard scoring catch in the first half.
Castro ended the night with seven of 17 passes completed for 118 yards and the touchdown to Limon. Julio Arce caught only two passes in the second half but led the receivers with 50 yards. Arce’s two catches helped set up Limon’s score in the fourth. Aaron Garcia led the ground game, overcoming a slow first half to finish the night with 127 yards ln 27 carries.
Both the Lancers and the Condors secured berths in the Southeast Division playoffs, and will learn their opponent in the first round on Sunday afternoon when the Southeast Brackets are released.
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