MidValleySports.Com

By Alex A. Gonzalez

Baldwin Park–Christian Davis punched in his fourth rushing touchdown in the second overtime Friday night and was also responsible for converting the 2-point conversion, propelling the Desert Hot Springs Golden Eagles to a 43-42 double overtime win over the Baldwin Park Braves at Ted K. Gorrell Memorial Stadium in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 13 playoffs. 

For the first fifteen minutes of the game, the Eagles appeared to be playing catchup whenever their offense would take the field. The Braves were the first to strike when their Double-Wing T offense only needed five plays to reach paydirt. Francisco Navarro scored the game’s first touchdown when he took the handoff and bulldozed his way into the end zone.

Desert Hot Springs responded on their ensuing possession eight plays later with 6:31 left in the first quarter. Quarterback Messiah Smith and Davis carried the offense that set them up in the red zone. After a defensive pass interference, Smith hooked up with Jordan Glaspie, who was running the wide receiver screen, and scored the touchdown from 12 yards out. 

The tied-ball game did not last long because Baldwin Park was able to march down the field on their ensuing drive. The running back trio of Navarro, Corey Lacy, and Mark Carbajal combined for 48 yards on the drive that helped set up Elvis Diaz for his passing touchdown with 1:30 left in the first quarter. Caleb Calvin was able to slip behind the defense and was alone in the corner of the endzone, where he hulled in Diaz’s 17-yard pass. 

With Desert Hot Springs set to answer back on their ensuing possession, they handed the ball off to Davis on their first play and then was immediately stripped by Chase Backwell just before the first quarter ended. Nine plays later, the Braves extended their lead to 21-7 when Lacy darted for the end zone for his night’s first touchdown. 

The Golden Eagles were able to get within a seven when they went back to Davis on their first play from scrimmage. From their 33-yard line, Davis took the handoff, broke free from a tackle, and outran the rest of the Baldwin Park defense for the touchdown 16 seconds after the Braves scored their third touchdown of the night. 

Then momentum started to swing in favor of Desert Hot Springs when they forced the Braves to turn the ball over on downs and when Davis reached paydirt for the second time in the first half, tying the ball game at 21 before the halftime whistle. 

The momentum carried over into the second half as the offense was set to receive the kickoff to start the third quarter. The Golden Eagles only needed two plays to take their first lead of the night when Smith optioned to keep possession of the ball and scored the rushing touchdown from 13 yards out at the 11:21 mark of the third quarter. 

On the ensuing drive, Baldwin Park tied the ball game at 28 when Calvin took the reverse handoff and passed it to a wide-open Erick Martinez for a touchdown. However, two plays later, Davis etched his third rushing touchdown in regulation, this time from 80 yards out. 

The scoring barrage slowed down for both offenses as the rest of the third quarter concluded and for the first 11 minutes of the fourth quarter. With a minute remaining in regulation, Lacy capped the Braves’ 14-play drive when he crossed the goal line for the second time of the night. 

Desert Hot Springs had an opportunity to kick the game-winning field goal with 20 seconds left, but Diego Villegas Gomez was short on his 36-yard attempt, leaving the score tied at 35 heading into overtime. 

In the first overtime, the Golden Eagles were first with possession. Davis’ first carry of the possession went for no gain. Then Smith’s 2-yard completion made it 3rd and long. After Davis only gained one yard on the next play, Smith’s incomplete pass on 4th and 7 turned the ball over on downs. 

The offense went backward on Baldwin Park’s first possession as they started the series with a false start penalty. Lacy was then tackled for a five-yard loss on the next play. He was then stuffed on back-to-back rushing attempts, and after a delay of game penalty, the Braves were looking at a fourth and 20. Their first series ended with a turnover on downs as well. 

In the second overtime, Baldwin Park compiled a 5-play drive that resulted in Lacy, who ended the night with 197 rushing yards, reaching the end zone for the third time, giving the Braves a 42-35 advantage. 

Desert Hot Springs closed the game when they responded with a 5-play drive. Davis, who had 205 total yards with 196 rushing, took most of the carries, including the one for the game’s final touchdown. He then took the handoff for the 2-point conversion and overpowered his way through the Braves defensive line for the go-ahead score, tallying the final score at 43-42 in favor of the Golden Eagles. 

With the win, Desert Hot Springs will play St. Monica next Friday night and will look to punch their ticket to play for a CIF-SS Division 13 title on Nov. 24th.