By Alex A. Gonzalez
Pasadena – It was the regular season finale Friday night at Keith Family Field, and all that the Minutemen of Maranatha needed to do was get a win over visiting Whittier Christian, guaranteeing them a postseason birth. And with their 42-39 win on Halloween night behind Cooper Berry’s three touchdown performance, Maranatha will wait to see who their first round opponent will be.
“We believed in ourselves,” commented Berry postgame. “No matter what happened, we just believed.”
At first, it looked like the Minutemen (7-3, 4-1 Mesquite) were going to cruise to an easy victory after they closed the first half up 28-7. The momentum began early, within the first four minutes of game time, as running back Morgan Freeman capped their 11-play drive by taking the counter handoff and reaching the endzone untouched.
The Heralds (2-8, 1-4 Mesquite) made an attempt to respond on their first series of offense, but with back-to-back penalties to start the drive, the offense went backwards, resulting in a punt back to the home team.
Then, with the second quarter starting, Berry, who completed 18 passes on 28 attempts for 187 yards, tossed his first touchdown pass to Nico Vergara from 11 yards out. Then, on their next series, Berry extended the Maranatha lead to three scores when he threw his second touchdown pass of the night to Bradley Loiacono with 4:15 left in the second frame.
Miscues continued to eat away at Whittier Christian when they took possession after the score. With their backs up against their own endzone, Caden Hogan’s pass was picked off by Nick Goodman at the 5-yard line, and he ran it back for the score, giving the Minutemen a 28-0 lead.
Whittier Christian then got on the board just before the halftime whistle when Hogan hooked up with Josepablo Gutierrez for the 12-yard pitch and catch.
After the break, the Heralds’ offense exploded by scoring on three consecutive drives, rapidly narrowing the gap and getting within three points before the third quarter ended.
Isai Iturburo got the drive started after he returned the second half kickoff all the way to the Maranatha 47-yard line. Then, after Hogan’s 16-yard pass and 9-yard carry, Ezekiel Iturburo took the handoff and reached paydirt 40 seconds into the third quarter.
Following a Minutemen punt, Whittier Christian had a short field to work with and took advantage of it. After three plays, Hogan threaded the needle with his 33-yard pass to Gutierrez for the touchdown. The point after attempt was blocked, keeping the score at 28-19.
Less than four minutes later, Maranatha was forced to punt the ball back, and once Gutierrez received the kick, he took it back to the house for the special teams score, making it 28-25 after the team failed to convert on the 2-point conversion.
Berry and the Minutemen offense woke up on their next drive, responding to Whittier Christian’s surge by compiling a 10-play, 92-yard drive that resulted in six points. Berry used both his legs and arm which generated 62 yards of offense as the team worked their way down the field. Sammy Byrnes then capped the drive when he took Berry’s handoff and bulldozed his way into the endzone, making the score 35-25 midway through the third quarter.
Whittier Christian then punched back when their special teams set up the offense at the Maranatha 19-yard line. On the next play, Hogan dropped back and connected with Tuff Kovacs, who outjumped his defender for the touchdown, making it a 35-31 score after the point-after attempt was blocked with 3:12 remaining in the third quarter.
Maranatha then added another Berry touchdown pass to Loiacono midway through the final quarter, extending the lead back to two possessions. However, the Heralds were not done yet. On their next drive, Hogan threw his third touchdown pass of the second half to Gutierrez from 84 yards out, making the score 42-39 and narrowing the lead once again.
Unfortunately, it was too late for Whittier Christian to complete the comeback. After the Minutemen regained possession, they only needed one first down to seal the victory, and it was made possible when Byrnes’ two-yard carry shut the door on the Heralds.
With the win, Maranatha finished second in the Mesquite league standings with a 4-1 record and will wait until Sunday when the CIF-SS playoff brackets are released.
“We believe we can make a deep postseason run in any division,” commented Berry when talking about the postseason. “And we can play with anyone, and I believe in my guys.”
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