MidValleySports.Com

By Alex A. Gonzalez

La Puente – With 44 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and a chance for a spot in the CIF-SS Division 13 championship game, Montebello’s Donovan Murillo took the handoff, muscled his way into the endzone scoring the game’s go-ahead touchdown as the Oilers defeated La Puente 43-36 at Mcintosh Stadium Friday night. 

With the win, the Oilers will be making their first CIF-SS championship appearance in school history. 

“It feels great, man, we hope to win the final, you know,” said Murillo when talking about making it to the CIF final. “We didn’t get this far just to lose.” 

At first, it appeared that Montebello would cruise to an easy win in the first half as their ground game, led by Murillo, who scored two of his four touchdowns in the first 24 minutes of play, took a 22-7 lead into intermission.

But then, when the Warriors were set to start the second half with possession, Ezekeil Zamora got their offense going in front of the boisterous crowd and scored on their first four possessions. 

Zamora made it a one-score game after he carried the offense down the field on their 8-play drive that started at their 20-yard line. After consecutive run plays by Zamora and Arron Silva for 12 and 17 yards, Zamora opted to keep the rock from the Oiler 10-yard line and reach the endzone less than three minutes into the third quarter. 

The once-score deficit was short-lived for the Warriors when their defense allowed Murillo to reach the endzone for the third time of the night on their ensuing possession. 

La Puente then responded on their next series with the same formula that got them into the endzone to start the final 24 minutes. The offense got help from their special teams, who put them on their 41-yard line. Then Zamora and Silva took turns carrying the ball, marching the Warrior offense down the field, ending with Zamora reaching paydirt for the second time. 

The Warriors then had an opportunity to force Montebello to turn the ball over on downs after they had sacked Joe Curiel for an 8-yard loss. But on 4th and 16, Curiel scrambled out of the pocket and found Jared Gomez for a 17-yard throw and catch that gave them a fresh set of downs. They were not needed as Giovanni Solorzano bulldozed his way for the 8-yard rushing score, making it 36-22 with 11:09 in the final frame. 

Zamaora and his offense wasted no time making it a 36-29 game, less than two minutes later, after reaching the endzone for the third time of the night. Then, after the defense forced the Oilers to punt for the first time in the second half, Zamaora tied the game after launching a 44-yard pass to Junior Ronquillo with 4:32 remaining in regulation. 

With the ball placed at the Oilers’ 22, and 4:25 to go, Montebello relied heavily on Murillo and Solorzano, who took turns carrying the ball as they marched down the field. La Puente could not contain the thunder-and-lightning combo that was the Montebello backfield, as their offensive line created gaps for the two to run through. Murillo put the final nail in the coffin for the Warriors when he took the handoff from the 3-yard line, broke a would-be tackler, and scored the final touchdown with 44 seconds left. 

“Oh man, we made history at this school. First time making it to a CIF championship,” commented Murillo postgame. “All credit to the line, to be honest. Without the line, I could not have scored that touchdown.”