A missed San Marcos field goal as time expired gave Dos Pueblos football a 16-15 win on Friday at Scott O’Leary Stadium in one of the most thrilling Battle for the Goodland matchups in its 60-year history.
The Chargers (6-4, 3-2 TCL) punched their ticket to the CIF-SS playoffs with the win, securing the third-place spot in the Tri-County League. The Royals’ (4-6, 2-3 TCL) postseason hopes sit in the hands of CIF, as they will need an at-large bid to continue their season next week. Playoff pairings are announced Sunday.
“This is everything about high school football, the purest of the game,” Dos Pueblos head coach AJ Pateras said. “You get childhood friends growing up in their community and playing and wanting it and leaving it all on the field and doing it the right way.
“[This game was] like a 1950s, 15-round heavyweight boxing fight. Just taking jabs all night long and trying to get the knockout and not getting it and then just trying to live within those little moments and get enough hits. I think it was just a war of attrition… It’s good for our program to be in these moments and we’re going to cherish it.”
While San Marcos’ season may continue next week, first-year head coach Isaiah Veal is proud of the growth he has seen from his team.
“This group has been so special,” Veal said. “We are coming, so get us now while you can because we are coming.”
With just over four minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Chargers took over possession at their own 20-yard line with backup quarterback Seth Orozco entering the game.
Orozco and the DP offense crossed midfield and found themselves in a 4th and 7 from the SM 41-yard line with just under two minutes to play. Orozco floated a pass to sophomore Caeden Lee, who snatched the ball over his defender and came down with it for a 21-yard completion to keep the drive and game alive.
“They called it, and I knew it was just me and that ball and I had to go get in. At the end of the day, I come down with it every time,” Lee said.
The Chargers then turned to workhorse senior running back Chase Johnson, who gobbled up 12 yards before punching in a touchdown from 3 yards out. The extra point gave DP a 16-15 lead with 46 seconds remaining.
The game was far from over, as San Marcos boasts the top kicker in the Tri-County League in senior Austin Downing, who was near-perfect on the season heading into the game and can convert field goals from 50 yards out.
SM senior quarterback Hayden Feleay and senior wideout Isaac Murillo connected three times on the drive, the last a toe-tap catch on the sideline to get the ball down to the DP 29-yard line with 6 seconds left.
Downing and the Royals then lined up from the left hash for a 46-yard game-winner, and the kick banged off the upright and was no good to give DP a win and send the stadium into a frenzy.
“We’ll live with [Downing] kicking that ball any day of the week, man. No questions, we’ll do that a 100 times out of 100,” Veal said.
The win is Dos Pueblos’ first in five years against the Royals, but the Chargers have a 32-26-2 all-time record in the rivalry. Lee, who had five catches for 60 yards, was named the Jeff Hesselmeyer Battle for the Goodland MVP.
“I think that was a great display of when it didn’t always go our way, but they stayed in it, they kept battling, they were focused. We maintained timeouts; we had situational football. So it’s a credit to the whole group. The coaches, the players, everybody,” Pateras said.
After two stalled possessions to open the game, DP got a big punt return into SM territory and had a chance to strike first. However, a fumbled handoff from the Royals’ 1-yard line turned the ball over and kept the game scoreless.
Three plays later, Feleay unleashed a deep ball with a defender in his face that was brought in by sophomore Krew Gray, who broke a tackle and took off for an 85-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 1:49 left in the first.
The Chargers then took over and got to their bread and butter: the run game. DP marched 14 plays down the field and scored on a quarterback keeper by junior Grady Felix from 7 yards out. The extra-point was wide right, keeping the SM lead at 7-6 with 7:04 left in the half.
After a three-and-out by the Royals, DP got right back to work on the ground. This time, the Chargers used 15 plays to get down inside the SM 10-yard line before senior Brandon Stock split the uprights from 24 yards out to jump ahead 9-7 with 39 seconds on the clock. The two-point lead held into halftime.
“I think that is a tribute to our offseasons and a tribute to the collective group’s want to be on the field,” Pateras said of the team’s success in the trenches. “[The offensive line] allows us to do other things… We opened up and that’s what allowed Chase to have some work.
“The offensive line: Marcus (Carbajal), Wyatt (Mitchell), Owen Pizano at center has been solid all year, Hector (Medina) on other side, Esteban (Alvarez), R.J. (Berrett), (Rylan Tupper). Those guys have been key all year, and so I’m just really proud of them.”
The Royals came out of the break with possession and took a page out of the DP playbook, using 18 plays and chewing up just over 10 minutes of the clock on their opening drive.
While senior running back Tommy Diaz received the bulk of the carries on the drive, SM found the endzone when Feleay lofted a jump ball to sophomore Caden LaPlante, who elevated over his defender, snagged the ball with one hand and came down with the catch.
LaPlante then secured the two-point conversion on the following play, giving the Royals a 15-9 lead with 1:40 to go in the second quarter.
“We kind of made a big adjustment, game plan-wise, and decided to come out the half and really run the ball,” Veal said. “We wanted to kind of exploit them in the air offensively, but they ran the clock out like crazy so we didn’t really get much of a chance to really air it out.
“So at halftime, we changed the whole game plan up on the boys and they executed to a tee. That was the best our offense looked driving the football the entire season and I’m proud of that.”
The SM defense then forced a three-and-out and went back to the same recipe on the offensive end. The steady diet of run plays got the Royals down inside the Dos Pueblos 30-yard line, but a pair of penalties stalled the drive and made it a 45-yard field goal attempt.
Downing’s attempt missed wide right to give Dos Pueblos the ball and set up the late-game dramatics.
