By Tim Peterson
It’s not that the loss was to an inferior team or that they didn’t battle. It appeared that the West Covina Bulldogs left everything on the field Friday night.
It’s not the type of loss that would cause the coach to rant and rave. It was more like one that caused stunned silence. It left you speechless. In a game that nobody in the stadium thought they would lose, West Covina did exactly that.
Everything had to go wrong for West Covina to lose this game. Everything did. On the flip side everything had to go right for Diamond Ranch to win. Everything did.
With 11:35 left in the game West Covina led 43-28 after Ruben Velasco scored on a 49-yard run to give the Bulldogs a 43-28 lead.
West Covina then got the ball back still up 15. Any kind of prolonged drive could have iced it but instead the Bulldogs couldn’t move the ball and then botched the snap on a punt attempt giving Diamond Ranch the ball at the Westco 27.
Boom! A touchdown pas by Joe Sebastian to Carter Henderson followed by a pass for the two point conversion and its 43-36.
Still not a really a problem for West Covina. The lead was still seven and there was only seven minutes left. Burn some clock, maybe kick a field goal and the lead is ten again. Heck, even you don’t score a punt would bury D Ranch in their own territory.
But instead the Panthers recover an onside kick and they’re in business again. Davion Gaisie runs right through the Bulldog defense for a 40-yard touchdown and with 5:53 left it’s 43-43.
Okay, it’s bad but not disastrous. West Covina still has plenty of time to march down the field and boot a field goal or score a go ahead touchdown. If the Bulldogs play it right they might even be able to burn up the clock and score with seconds left.
Instead on their own 22 yard line, two plays into the possession, West Covina is intercepted. No time is spent and Diamond Ranch is at the Westco 39. Okay, now it’s disastrous. With 2:23 left Sebastian hits a wide open David Aldapa for a 25 yard touchdown pass for a 50-43 Panther lead. In four minutes and 47 seconds Diamond Ranch scored 22 points.
The West Covina sideline, like the entire section of the home field stands filled with Bulldog faithful, stared at the field in a sort of sickening silence. You could hear the football being kicked as it sailed through the uprights on the extra point.
When the clock hit zeroes, Diamond Ranch players and coaches leaped for joy while the West Covina contingent trudged to midfield for post game handshakes.
The Panthers use this to possibly propel them to a Hacienda League title. The Bulldogs? Burn the tape, forget it ever happened and don’t ever speak of it again. It couldn’t have happened, but it did. It shouldn’t have happened but it did. Erase it from your memory and carry on. There’s no other choice.
That’s my principle.
Tim can be reached at tim@midvalleysports.com or Twitter @tspeterson40.
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