By Tim Peterson
(Covina) – Palmdale recovered two kicks to open the third quarter and turned them into 14 points in 23 seconds and went on to rout Covina 58-13 Saturday night at Covina District Field. With the win Palmdale advanced to the CIF Division 10 Semi Finals.
Down 21-7 at the half Covina attempted an onside kick to open the third quarter, but Palmdale recovered it and retuned it down to the Covina eight yard line. On the next play Anthony Woods scored on an 8- yard jaunt.
On the subsequent kickoff a squib kick hit a Covina player and Palmdale recovered at the Covina 49. It appeared to be an onside kick but actually it was a kick that was mishandled by the Colts. Either way the Falcons were in business. Woods took care of business on the next play racing through the Covina defense for a 49-yard touchdown with 11:37 left in the third quarter. It was the fourth touchdown of the night for Woods and in a matter of 23 seconds Palmdale tuned a 14 point lead into 28.
Even though there were nearly two full quarters left everyone in the confines of Covina District Field knew it was over. The fat lady wasn’t singing but she was warming up over by the snackbar.
Covina didn’t score again until Jake Duronslet hit Ronnie Munoz on a touchdown pass in the corner of the endzone as the clock hit zeroes to account for the final score.
Palmdale never let up after the two quick touchdowns. Damario Jackson scored on a an 18-yard run five minutes later and Jackson found paydirt again early in the fourth quarter on an 11-yard run.
A safety on a bad snap by Covina and a subsequent 75-yard punt return by Kylen Gibson made it 58-7 before the Colts last play touchdown.
The Colts were in it early. After a scoreless first quarter Woods, who else? scored on a 10-yard run to cap an 80-yard drive for a 7-0 lead.
Covina got even on a 12-yard touchdown strike from Duronslet to Kerry Smith with 9:24 left in the half.
Woods crossed the goal line a couple of mintes later from seven yards out to finish another drive and with 4:05 left in the first half Qunicy Turner haled in a 34-yard pass from Kaden Newton to up the advantge to 21-7.
Then the third quarter opened and the floodgates opened to drown Covina.
The Colts had trouble getting anything going offensively. Duronlset threw for over 100 yards and the two touchdowns. He was also intercepted once.
For Palmdale Woods had 19 carries for 221 yards and 4 touchdowns. Jackson had only 5 carries for 36 yards but also had two touchdowns.
A Covina victory would have meant that city rivals Northview and Covina squared off next week in the Semi Finals. Instead Northview will travel out to Palmdale to face the Falcons.
Covina finishes the season with an overall record of 8-4.
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