MidValleySports.Com

By Alex A. Gonzalez

Baldwin Park – It was a wet and rainy Friday night at Ted K Gorrell Memorial Stadium, and despite the soggy conditions, the Baldwin Park Braves accumulated over 400 yards of total offense in their 48-10 Division 11 quarter-final match-up against the Shadow Hills Knights. 

Braves quarterback Valentino May threw three touchdown passes while completing 8-12 passing for 216 yards, and Jacory Coleman tallied 211 yards rushing, scored three touchdowns on the ground, and added a receiving score.  

“It feels great, you know. We played as a team and got the win,” commented Coleman after the game. “I’m thankful for my line and my coaches for trusting me.”  

Despite throwing an interception midway through the first quarter, May conducted an aerial assault against the Knights’ secondary by throwing three touchdown passes to three different receivers. 

On their first drive, which only needed two plays, May took the snap, waited for the screen play to develop, then floated his pass to Coleman, who then took it 74 yards to the house. 

Then, after Alexander Cervantes booted a 38-yard field goal at the 6:32 mark of the first quarter, May and the BP offense went up 14-3 when he found a wide-open Donovan St Cyr for the 37-yard score. 

The offense wasn’t done on their next possession when they reached the endzone for the second time of the quarter when May found Dah Riyon Vaughn, who outran the coverage as he hauled in a 37-yard bomb from May, making the score 21-3 late in the second quarter. 

Shadow Hills did find the endzone just before the halftime buzzer when Jesse Rodriguez ran the hurry-up offense that ended when he lobbed his touchdown pass to Brandon Peffers with 55 seconds remaining in the quarter. 

The offensive game plan then flipped to the ground game, where Choyce Hampton and Coleman combined for 177 yards on the ground and scored four touchdowns. 

Coleman scored his first of three rushing scores of the second half when he took the handoff up the middle, broke two would-be tacklers, and scampered to the endzone from 40 yards out. 

The Knights’ offense then fumbled the ball away on their next series, which was then recovered by Hampton, who returned it for the score, making it a 35-10 ball game with 6:45 remaining in the third quarter. 

Coleman then closed the game out with back-to-back rushing scores of 54 and five yards, making it a 48-10 game with a running clock in the fourth quarter. 

With the win, Baldwin Park makes it a second consecutive semi-final appearance, where they will face an undefeated Western Christian team next Friday night. 

“We got Western Christian, they have not lost a game all year, and I’m pretty sure they are not looking forward to losing one next week,” said Baldwin Park HC Robert Maxie after the game. “They are going to come with their A game, so we’ve got to continue to get better, clean up our mistakes, and hopefully win the game.”