By Alex Gonzalez
(Covina) – As Joseph Gutierrez converted his 31-yard field goal to help increase the Northview Vikings’ lead with 2:56 left in the fourth quarter, the realization of a Division 10 championship was on the horizon.
In front of a raucous, Covina District Field audience, Cheo Medina and the Vikings overpowered visiting St. Anthony on a chilly Friday night by scoring 24 straight points in the second and third quarter and carried that momentum to a 27-20 victory, hoisting a Division 10 CIF-SS title, their first title in over 20 years.
“It feels great. It is such a blessing to be out here with my team,” said Medina after the game. “We came a long way from a 3-5 record to 8-6 now. It is that great. We have been doubted the whole season, and we kept our composure, and we played like we do.”
As the game proceeded, the Saints were the first to strike on their first possession of the night. Quarterback Conner Hochberg dropped back and connected with Kweku Claybrook running the slip screen route, who then outran the Vikings defense for the 68-yard touchdown.
Then on the ensuing Northview possession, the offense was able to respond thanks to Ronal Tebo Jr.
After a 48 yard gain to set up the Vikings on the Saints 10-yard line, Tebo took the handoff and bulldozed his way into the end zone to tie the ball game at seven with 3:32 left in the opening quarter.
The Saints tried responding on their next possession. However, Sone Aupiu was stonewalled on the ground, forcing a change of possession back to Northview.
Tebo Jr. Was able to reach paydirt for the second time of the night when the offense methodically moved down the field through a mixture of pass and run plays. Tebo Jr.’s rushing score gave his team a 14-7 lead with 3:07 in the second quarter.
The Vikings then started to pull away after the halftime break.
This time Medina was the one who was able to reach the end zone. He took the shotgun handoff on their first play of the possession, stiff-armed a Saint defender, and took it 56 yards for the touchdown.
He tried to double down on their next possession, but St. Anthony was able to push back and force the Vikings to kick a 25-yard field goal.
With the made field goal by Gutierrez, Northview extended their lead to 24-7 with 3:45 left in the third quarter.
The Saints ended their scoring drought on their next offensive series and wasted in the process.
Fifteen seconds after the field goal, Aupiu took the handoff, made a cut to the right, and outran the defense for the 67-yard score, cutting the lead down to 10 points after the PAT.
In the fourth quarter, Northview had two objectives before the final buzzer sounded: Kill as much time as possible and keep St. Anthony out of the end zone. The Vikings did both.
Northview compiled an 11-play drive to open the fourth quarter that took them to the Saints 11-yard line. However, with the missed field goal, the Saints had some hope. However, that hope faded quickly after the offense failed to get a first down, resulting in a turnover on downs with 7:40 left to play.
The Vikings game plan continued once they had possession of the ball. This time, after the offense wasted more game clock on the short field, Gutierrez did not miss his 31-yard kick, and by doing so, Northview held a 27-14 advantage with 2:56 left to play.
With desperation, the Saints went no-huddle on their final possession. The drive resulted in points behind Hochberg’s legs, who escaped Northview’s pass rush and dived into the end zone with 49 seconds left in regulation.
Even after the missed PAT by the Saints, there was still optimism for St. Anthony to recover the onside kick.
That optimism was short-lived as they failed to recover the kick on the next play.
After two kneel-downs by Northview, the realization became a reality as the clock read zero. The Vikings home crowd erupted as the team celebrated their Division 10 title over St. Anthony.
“We have talked about it this whole time. Our guys stuck together through the bad and good, and we got healthy, and we kept rolling, found our chemistry, and we are here now,” Said Northview HC Marcel Perez. “They are a team, you know? It was not one guy. It was the whole team from practice players and scout players. I mean, everybody had a huge part in this.”
Does this make Cal High CIF Champs? We smoked them.