By Big Tony Solorzano
(Whittier) – The struggle for the Del Rio League title took another strange twist as La Serna watched its hopes of a title shot disappear as El Rancho put itself back into contention for a playoff spot with a 27-23 win over La Serna Thursday night at Whittier District Field.
The Lancers (3-6, 2-2) surrendered a 10-point halftime lead to the Dons (5-4, 2-2) and were outscored 17-3 in the second half despite another quality effort by quarterback Andrew Buenrostro.
The Lancers took the lead as Craig Jones rumbled for a 1-yard score early in the first quarter, but Teren Guerra’s point after attempt failed. The Dons then took advantage later in the quarter as they recovered a muffed punt and turned it into a score by Ronnel Lone with 4:32 left in the quarter. Lenny Levya’s point after was good and the Dons took the 7-6 lead.
In the second, the Lancers offense finally sprang to life as Buenrostro had a hand in two touchdowns in the period. First he regained the lead on a 1-yard run, giving the Lancers a 13-7 lead. Leyva kicked a 43-yard field goal to close the gap to three points, 13-10, but the mistake that cost La Serna a score came back at El Rancho.
La Serna’s Andrew Rosales intercepted a potential go-ahead touchdown pass by Josh Perea at the 3-yard line, but the Dons’ defense stalled the drive deep in Lancer territory and forced Buenrostro to punt. But Lone misjudged the punt and it bounced off his fingers, setting off a scramble for the ball. Ocsar Medina came up with the ball for the Lancers and advanced it to the El Rancho 26-yard line, reviving the drive. Buenrostro then connected with Connor Burke for the 26-yard touchdown and the 20-10 lead going into the half.
In the third, the Dons roared back and tied the game up. Leyva cut the lead to seven with his second field goal, this one from 34 yards, and Perea hit Freddie Garcia for a 21-yard score, tying the game with 2:47 left in the quarter. At the start of the fourth quarter, the Lancers had a chance to take the lead after Rosales picked Perea off again and returned the ball to the El Rancho 35-yard line. However, the drive stalled at the 4-yard line and Lancers Head Coach Margarito Beltran called for a field goal attempt instead of going for the touchdown and Guerra scored on the 21-yard kick.
The winning drive came with 4:14 left in the game. A seemingly stalled drive near mid-field turned into a scoring opportunity as Tate Harshbarger broke through the secondary and rushed 51 yards to the Lancer 3-yard line, only a lunging tackle by Andrew Lopez prevented Harshbarger from scoring. three plays later, Perea scored with 55 seconds left in the game. Despite getting their two league wins in the last minute, Buenrostro’s Pass attempt to Angel Estrada was intercepted by Daniel Moriel at mid-field, ending La Serna’s title hopes and putting their playoff chances in jeopardy.
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