Mountain Empire may be among the smaller enrollment high schools in the San Diego Section lineup but the Redhawks are having a big season.
The Pine Valley school, seeded third in the Division V-AA bracket, defeated sixth-seeded Victory Christian Academy, 44- 37, in a quarterfinal matchup on Saturday. The teams had previously met in Sunset League play with Mountain Empire escaping with a 36-35 win.
The rematch was expected to be close, and it was.
“We played really well up until two minutes were left in first half,” Redhawks head coach Cameron Keller said. “We were up 22-8. We fumbled, they scored going into half 22-16. The start of second half we were driving again and fumbled; they scored to go ahead 23-22. We went down field and scored, then we gave up kickoff return. They’re up 29-28.
“We scored again in the middle of the fourth quarter to go on top 36-29. Victory converted on 4th and 9, then scored and went for two to go up 37-36. With 1:50 left we had two timeouts. Junior Chance Ross hit junior Amar Mahasin for a 50-yard touchdown with 40 seconds left. We sacked their quarterback to end game on a Hail Mary.”
Many in attendance had to have a hard time keeping track of the score with hearts beating ever faster as the teams made their furiously way up and down the field.
It was a surreal ending that left the host team on top.
Ross passed for 150 passing yards and three touchdowns.
Seniors Junior Ponce and Mike Noble each caught touchdown passes while Mahasin had 100 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Sophomore Elisha Lashone Robinson racked up 180 rushing yards and three touchdowns. VCA senior Chato Garcia passed for 123 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 10 times for 72 yards and one touchdown. Seniors Gabriel Aguirre (four catches, 75 yards) and Ben Cordova (two catches, 35 yards) each caught scoring passes while senior Alejandro Rodriguez scored on a one-yard run.
Rodriguez and Cordova keyed Victory Christian (5-6 overall) defensively with 12 and 10 tackles, respectively. Rodriguez and senior Forest Partch also pitched in with fumble recoveries. Aguirre turned in a 92-yard kickoff return while Aguirre, Rodriguez and senior Max Gardner each scored on two point conversions..
The Knights (4-2 in league) rolled up 327 total offensive yards. With the win, Mountain Empire advances to meet No. 2 seed Palo Verde Valley (7-4) in the division semifinals on Friday, Nov. 14, in Blythe.
Desert League champion Palo Verde Valley defeated seventhseeded O’Farrell Charter, 52-0, in the quarterfinals. The Yellow Jackets rang up seven touchdowns (three by sophomore Ayden Waker), 478 total offensive yards and 10 sacks, two interceptions and one fumble recovery on defense. It looks like the Redhawks will have their hands full. The Division V-AA field continues to grow with eight playoff teams this year.
Top-seeded Maranatha Christian (10-1) defeated eighthseeded Rock Academy (4-7) by a score of 44-6 while fifth-seeded Clairemont (2-9) upset fourthseeded Calipatria (4-6) by a score of 34-26. The division championship game is scheduled Saturday, Nov. 22, at Escondido High School at 7 p.m. following the Division VI (eight-player) final at 3 p.m. Eastern exposure A whopping 12 East County teams qualified for this year’s football playoffs. Nine are still in contention for divisional championships entering Friday’s second round of elimination play. El Capitan (4-6) will host No. 10 La Jolla Country Day (5-6) in a Division IV contest.
Interestingly, the Vaqueros have a chance to capture back-to-back Division IV championships if they are able to run the table. “It puts us in a place, if all goes well, to make a run for sure,” El Capitan head coach Ron Burner said.
“We played a league schedule that included four Division I-Division II schools and we played all of them tough for three quarters. But in the end, of course, we lost. “I feel playing those games puts us in a great situation to make a run for another title. We still have to be perfect in practice and perfect in our games. Having the bye week really helped us get some guys healthier and ready to take on La Jolla Country Day this Friday. They are a good group of players and play hard.”
Granite Hills (7-3) will be facing a Rancho Bernardo team (9-2) coached by former Charger Eric Weddle, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, and second round pick by the Bolts out of Utah in 2007. Gaige Weddle, who doubles as a play-making quarterback and hard-hitting safety, has passed for 2,119 yards and 19 touchdowns against six interceptions, has rushed for 611 yards and nine touchdowns, and has logged 95 tackles, two sacks and two interceptions.
The younger Weddle threw for 236 yards and five touchdowns with a team-leading eight tackles in last Friday’s 49-15 firstround win over 10th-seeded Del Norte. There’s obviously a lot of drama in this one.
Steele Canyon (7-3) will host Grossmont Hills League rival Helix (5-6) in a Division II quarterfinal with the winner guaranteed a berth in the semifinals. The teams met Oct. 24 in La Mesa with Helix holding off the rampaging Cougars 39-34 as the teams combined for 73 points, 843 offensive yards and 11 touchdowns. Of note, Steele Canyon will be looking to end a three-game losing streak to end the season (all in league), so revenge could be sweet.
