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.”
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Happy to see Coach G and the Oilers playing in a championship game, have lots of family that attended MHS and they are all thrilled regardless of the division… that’s all internet banter, but those kids and that community are playing for possibly their first football CIF title ever.
@ Arry monster : PUMPKIN PIE!!!!!!!!
Congratulations oilers. It might be a lower division but sure the kids are happy no matter what division. good luck to the Montebello boys on Friday.
Hell yes, D13 and D14 are great things for the money till at CIF. The suits in Los Alamitos have done a great job of convincing everyone that it’s cruel to demand actual talent from a team in order to call them champions. They play this P.C. card to the max to keep their coffers overflowing.
@Mr Reality??
I think i speak for most when i say that you are only showing your true colors of jealousy. That’s the bottom line. It’s obvious that you’re a Schurr supporter and that’s ok. But any coach in America will say that preseason and regular season are definitely not as important as postseason… So say as you wish but you will do it from the sidelines like the rest of your supporters… The Montebello Oilers will be practicing on Thanksgiving day while you prepare your pumpkin pie at home… If you don’t have nothing good to say then stay away and let us do our thing… We don’t need your approval or do we care about it. Our boys are Vibing and it’s exciting to see… Let’s do this Oilers! The rest can eat tires and corn on the cob through the fence…
@605
They dominate D14 , 13
Is this a good thing ?
As Tony Montana said in Scarface: “you need guys like me, so you can point the finger and say that’s the bad guy.” If it makes you better by comparison, that’s what I’m all about…making others feel better.
Great to see Montebello, Pioneer, and So. El Monte in the finals. All 3 coaches have always run a good program. They coach up what they have. Very refreshing to see.
Good Luck to Coach Pete and His Oilers. Your friends from Cathedral High School
Mr. Reality??
There is always someone who has to hate… I think I speak for everyone when I say nobody cares about your opinion… All I know is that they’re playing for a title on Friday and you’re more than welcome to come and watch… there’s over 500 teams in the southern section and only 28 left… Think long and hard about that before you start taking shots and Montebello… Best of luck to the Oilers!!
Lower divisions is some of the most exciting football. Without these teams this site would be boring.
Hate to burst everyone’s euphoric bubble, but when Montebello is being blown out by opponents next year, it won’t feel very much like you’re watching champions. Come to think of it, those kind of beat-downs happened this year too. Now kill the messenger.
OMG!!!!! SO PROUD OF YOU ALL..
LET’S FINISH IT GO OILERS…
Great game MHS looked good
Go Oilers job well done they looked good ladtnight I’m not an Oiler fan just went to the game.
Congrats Oilers!