Buena running back Jaxon Roberts barrelled his way into the endzone for a 1-yard, walk-off touchdown to cap off a thrilling 47-41 overtime victory over San Marcos on Friday at Warkentin Stadium.
The Royals (1-3) and Bulldogs (2-2), longtime Channel League rivals, exchanged blow after blow throughout the night, including 40 total points scored in the fourth quarter to set up overtime.
However, it was Buena who emerged victorious over San Marcos for the 16th straight meeting of the two programs.
“That was quite a duel going back and forth, there’s no doubt about it,” San Marcos head coach Ralph Molina said. “We had the effort of four quarters, and to me, that was a big step forward.
“Our goal is simple. We want to get ready for a league championship. We want to compete, so let’s learn from this. Let’s take care of the little things and we’ve got to be ready to go next week.”
After three balanced quarters, the two sides found themselves knotted up at 21-21 heading into the fourth quarter. The tie didn’t last long in the fourth, however, as Buena quarterback Blake Eberhard scored on a 5-yard keeper and punched in the two-point conversion to take a 29-21 lead with 11:53 on the clock.
The Royals punched right back as Isaac Murillo found a crease and returned the ensuing kickoff down to the Buena 7-yard line, setting up a 7-yard rushing touchdown by Cole Dominguez. Dominguez also scored on the two-point conversion to tie the game at 29-29.
The back-and-forth action continued on the next drive as the Bulldogs marched down the field and scored on a 32-yard rushing touchdown by Roberts. The extra-point attempt failed, which would soon become a pattern, to bring the lead to 35-29 with 10:01 remaining.
SM got right back to work behind the rushing attack of Dominguez and Brody Green, and Green punched in a 4-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game up. However, the ensuing extra point snap was fumbled, keeping the game tied with 5:35 on the clock.
The next drive was more of the same, as the Bulldogs moved right down the field and scored on a 15-yard rushing score by Eberhard to take a 41-35 lead. The ensuing extra-point attempt was then missed wide left, leaving the door open for the Royals.
“We had a few guys banged up. We had to put a couple of guys in there, and it hurt us,” Molina said of his late-game defense. “It’s those little things, you know, those guys have to step in and be ready to play… Defensively, I’m frustrated just because I run the defense and I hate to give up that many points.”
San Marcos then regained possession with its eyes set on a go-ahead score, and Green and Dominguez handled every carry of the drive on their way down the field.
Facing a 3rd and goal from the Buena 4-yard line with 29 seconds left, Dominguez drove his way into the endzone for the touchdown and the 41-41 tie.
The Royals needed to convert the extra-point attempt to take the lead with 20 seconds left, but once again, the snap was not clean and the attempt failed, keeping the game tied and ultimately sending it into overtime.
In overtime, San Marcos got down to the Buena 6-yard line but was stuffed on 4th and goal, setting up Buena’s walk-off touchdown on its first overtime drive.
“You’ve got to do the little things right or it’s gonna come back to bite us in the rear, and it did,” Molina said. “No matter how tired you are, you’ve got to execute. You know, if we execute those extra points, we’re not playing overtime. We’re going home.
“When we scored that last touchdown, I thought, all right, here it is. I couldn’t believe the ball rolled.”
The running back duo of Dominguez and Green dominated the ground game for the Royals, as Dominguez took 29 carries for 205 yards and four touchdowns while Green rushed 20 times for 178 yards and two scores.
“Brody and Cole ran hard, wow,” Molina said. “Brody is learning and growing more every week, getting better with his cuts and running harder. Cole is a great athlete and has done some great stuff.
“I thought the O line did a good job up front… I got everything out of Brody and everything out of Cole.”
After both sides punted on their opening drives, the Bulldogs kicked off the scoring midway through the first quarter on a 2-yard rushing touchdown by Roberts.
The extra-point attempt’s snap was fumbled, but the Buena special teams unit recovered and found a wide-open Bulldog in the endzone for the two-point conversion and the 8-0 lead.
The Royals punched right back on the ensuing drive, kick-started by a solid return by Logan Patterson. After two strong runs by Green, Dominguez broke free for a 43-yard rushing touchdown to cut the deficit to 8-7 with 4:22 left in the first.
The first-quarter back-and-forth continued on the next drive as the Bulldogs moved down the field with a 55-yard chunk play, setting up a 5-yard rushing touchdown by Eberhard for the 15-7 lead.
The second quarter was a relatively quiet one, thanks in part to three field-goal blocks, two by the Royals and one by the Bulldogs.
San Marcos finally broke through late in the second quarter when it opted to go for a 4th and goal opportunity at the Buena 3-yard line.
The gamble paid off, as Dominguez punched in a 3-yard rushing touchdown for his second score of the night. The Royals went for the two-point conversion but were unsuccessful, keeping the Buena lead at 15-13.
The Bulldogs had a chance to score before the break after a big 45-yard completion down the sideline, but the Royals blocked the field-goal attempt to maintain a two-point deficit at halftime.
San Marcos muffed the opening kickoff of the second half, giving Buena the ball with great field possession. It took advantage, as Eberhard scored on a 15-yard rushing touchdown before the extra point was blocked to bring the lead to 21-13.
The Royals answered back with a strong drive of their own, led once again by Dominguez and Green. This time, Green scored on a 1-yard touchdown and Dominguez found paydirt for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 21 with 7:28 left in the third.
The tie remained until the fourth quarter to set up the late-game dramatics.
San Marcos will be back in action next week for the Big Game against Santa Barbara High on Friday at 7 p.m. at Peabody Stadium. The game ended in a 20-20 tie last season.
“We got a good team to get ready for this week, San Barbara’s going to be tough,” Molina said. “It’s going to be tough playing at their place.”