Dos Pueblos nearly pulled off a massive upset on Friday in a non-league home game against the favored CIF-Southern Section Division 4 second-ranked San Juan Hills. The Stallions eked out a 29-26 win on a night that was particularly sloppy for both sides.
The Chargers, No. 7 in Divison 10, trotted out a team missing its star receiver and playing with a quarterback making his varsity debut.
And they almost won.
Dos Pueblos jumped out to an early 13-0 lead after cornerback Daniel Arzate intercepted San Juan’s Doug Jackson on the third play of the game. The Chargers ran the ball straight down the Stallions’ throats, rushing five times for 56 yards, including the eventual 18-yard touchdown by running back Erik Lopez.
On the first play of the second quarter, senior quarterback Jake Ramirez connected with sophomore Baylor Huyck for a 38-yard gain in what was the longest play of the game. Seven plays later, Lopez punched the ball in from 7 yards to put the Chargers up 13-0. Lopez finished the game with 16 rushes for 72 yards and one reception for eight yards.
Ramirez finished the game with 44 yards rushing and 62 passing, going 6-for-12 in his debut.
“He’s only going to get better,” Dos Pueblos head coach Nate Mendoza claimed of Ramirez.
Receiver Travis Lau got things going for the Stallions by returning the kickoff to the Chargers’ 44-yard line. San Juan running back Chase Monarch carried the ball four times for 25 yards on the drive and punched it in from 1 yard to make a 13-7 game with 4:57 remaining in the second quarter.
Things got sloppy near the end of the first half as Dos Pueblos fumbled the ball away and after forcing a three-and-out. San Juan’s Joey Hobert then intercepted a pass and returned it to the Chargers’ 12-yard line. Monarch punched the ball in again from 2 yards and the PAT gave the Stallions a 14-13 lead entering half time.
Daniel Arzate returned his second interception of the game 30 yards for a touchdown to put the Chargers ahead 19-14. Arzate also broke up two deep passes and helped hold Jackson to 135 passing yards on 30 attempts. Lineman Nathan Beveridge also pulled down an interception off a ball batted in the air by fellow lineman Justin Padilla.
“Defense comes first,” said Arzate. “Defense wins games.”
After Dos Pueblos failed to convert on fourth down, the Stallions and managed to snatch the lead back as Hobert took a 9-yard pass to the end zone. Jackson passed to Travis Lau for a two-point conversion, givng them a 21-14 lead. Lau finished the game with three receptions for 16 yards and four rushes for 42 yards.
DP took the lead back when Padilla intercepted a bubble screen and rumbled 69 yards to the end zone for 26-22 advantage with 9:25 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“Hats off to the defense in the second half,” Mendoza said. “It was unbelievable how well Arzate played. (Matthew) Molina, (Erick) Nisich, Beveridge, and Padilla were really holding it down for us on both sides of the ball.”
With the game on the line, Hobert intercepted and returned a pass to the Dos Pueblos 26 with under four minutes remaining. On a crucial second down with 15 yards to go, Jackson connected with receiver Ryan Collins for 30 yards to put the Stallions on the 1-yard line.
“Our quarterback stepped up and delivered a ball with confidence to get us down there,” said San Juan head coach Aaron Flowers. “We somehow found a way.”
Two plays later, Jackson found tight end Bryce Crider on a 5-yard shuttle pass that gave the Stallions the 29-26 victory.
“You can’t turn the ball over five times and expect to win a game,” said Mendoza. “We’ll clean it up, there’s no doubt about it. We’re really excited with what we’ve got and what we saw today.”
“We’re hard workers,” claimed Arzate. “We don’t give up. We know we can compete with any team.”
Next week, Dos Pueblos hosts Cabrillo (0-1) in a non-league matchup.
— Noozhawk sports reporter Christian Eckert can be reached at ceckert@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports and @noozhawk. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.