San Marcos dropped a heartbreaker in the final minutes to Chino High, 14-13, in the opening round of the CIF-SS Div. 10 playoffs on Friday night at Warkentin Stadium.
The Cowboys scored with 1:13 on the clock and came away with an interception on the ensuing drive to spoil the Royals’ first playoff appearance since 2005.
“I’m proud of my effort, no doubt, we battled,” Royals coach Ralph Molina said. “[Chino] was big up front and we just weren’t moving the pile and I think that was the difference, they kind of controlled the line of scrimmage.”
On top of it being the program’s first playoff game since 2005, it was San Marcos’ first time hosting a playoff matchup since 1998. The Royals will be graduating 27 seniors from this year’s historic squad.
“They set the standard… they kind of paved the way,” Molina said of this year’s team. “This one’s going to hurt, this was a special group and they accomplished a lot.
“We’ll move forward, they set the standards for us and I’m really proud of this group.”
Molina and the Royals rolled the dice on its first drive of the game, going for it on 4th and 2 from their own 40-yard line. Nate Jones made the gamble worth it, as he ripped off a 28-yard run to get into Chino territory.
Two plays later, Danny Diaz dropped back to pass and dumped the ball to Anthony Obispo out of the backfield, and Obispo did the rest, scampering for a 35-yard touchdown.
After a successful extra-point attempt, the Royals led 7-0 with 8:42 left in the first.
The Cowboys responded with a methodical 14-play drive that took up the remainder of the opening quarter.
After a San Marcos pass interference and a 21-yard catch got Chino to the goal line, the visitors opened the second quarter with a 1-yard touchdown on a keeper by Maximus Barroso.
The score remained at 7-7 for the remainder of the first half, thanks in part to a last-minute interception by San Marcos’ Cole Dominguez to halt the Chino drive that had made its way into Royals’ territory.
“I like their effort, I think the defense played pretty damn tough,” Molina said of his defense’s showing.
The strong defense continued throughout the third, as the two sides exchanged punts before the Royals finally broke the tie in the final seconds of the quarter.
San Marcos made its way into Chino territory and Diaz connected on a 33-yard deep ball to Quinn Donnell to give the offense the ball inside the 10-yard line.
They were unable to punch in the touchdown, opting for a 28-yard field goal attempt that Austin Downing drilled to give the Royals a 10-7 advantage with one quarter to play.
The San Marcos defense made sure the team maintained its momentum as Jones came away with an interception on the third play of the ensuing drive to set the offense up in Chino territory.
Jones ripped off a 12-yard rush to get inside the 10-yard line, but once again the offense couldn’t find the endzone and was forced to settle for a field goal. Downing had no trouble converting the 25-yard kick to put his team up 13-7 with 6:22 on the clock.
“It’s one of those things where [you ask] do you try to take the points or try to get the touchdown out of it?” Molina said of his decision. “We hit the field goal and I was hoping our defense would be able to stop them.”
However, the Chino offense dominated the next drive by running 10 straight run plays down the field against a fatigued San Marcos defense.
The methodical drive was capped off by a 6-yard rushing touchdown from Demetrius Alloway. The extra point gave the Cowboys a 14-13 lead with 1:13 left to play.
“[Chino] made the plays and we’ve got a lot of guys going both ways… I give them a lot of credit,” Molina said.
On the next drive, Chino’s Jacob Alvarado jumped in front of a San Marcos pass and came away with an interception to seal the game.
The Royals struggled to move the ball on the ground all night, which had been the team’s strong suit throughout the regular season. The running back trio of Nate Jones, Anthony Obispo and Cole Dominguez managed just 72 yards on the ground, with 57 coming from Jones.
“They were pretty tough up on the D Line,” Molina said. “We weren’t getting those big runs that we’ve been getting… We didn’t get a lot of yards running tonight and for us, we’ve got to.”
Friday’s season-ending loss provided some unwanted deja vu for San Marcos and its fans, as all four of the team’s losses this season were by one possession. In the four losses, the Royals lost by a combined 10 points.
“Every game we lost was at the end,” Molina said. “I’m going to have a hard time sleeping with that, but that’s how it worked out.”