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Tigers get big scare from Pioneers but hold on for 28-21 win, prepare for El Diamante showdown
The Tigers, clearly in control of the game into the fourth period, leading 28-14, watched almost helplessly as the Pioneers scored in the final three minutes on a pass from Mt. Whitney quarterback Jordan Brooks to Frank Chavez to close the gap to 28-21.
WYL Standings
All Lemoore had to do was hold on to the ball for about two minutes and secure the victory. However, faced with a fourth and two in their own territory, the Tigers went for the first down when Cort Groathouse took the snap and was stopped cold by the Pioneers, well short of the first down putting the Pioneers and Brooks in good field position with plenty of time left on the clock.
“We have a couple of designed plays that we run fakes on punts, and unfortunately one of our guys missed his assignment and the guy that made the play was the guy who didn’t get blocked,” said Tiger Coach Shannon Pulliam in a bit of reflection after the game. “I thought we could get it, there are times when I’ll go for it in a situation like that and I thought we could get it. We still had the momentum but unfortunately it didn’t work, but our defense came up pretty big right there.”
The Pioneers took over and Brooks took them down close, picking up three first downs in route to a final pass with 2.4 seconds on the clock that just skipped out of the receiver’s reach in the end zone.
Lemoore’s Richard Doctor, the state’s leading rusher, gave credit where credit was due. “They came back and really gave us a game,” said the talented tailback. “We came out hard, but they really came to play. They had only one win this season so they had nothing to lose. They really played hard.”
Doctor says the Tigers can beat El Diamante. “We have all the skills set, we just have to stay focused,” he said. “We just have to play our game.”
The Tigers escaped with a 28-21 victory and assured themselves of at least a shot at upsetting El Diamante on November 1 when the Miners come visiting Lemoore. The Miners must also beat Redwood on Friday night if Lemoore hopes to repeat as league champions. Redwood, under the guidance of Coach Shaun Ball, upset Lemoore earlier this season to place the Tigers in a difficult position as they seek to repeat in the WYL. The Rangers are 3-0 as they face El Diamante.
“Offensively we have to keep doing the same thing, feeding number 5 (Richard Doctor), but we have some other guys that can do some things too. Rashaun had a nice play tonight and so did Mcghuey on a pass play, so getting those guys touches is important,” said Pulliam. “Obviously everybody’s going to try and stop number 5. Defensively we’ve got to shore up our pass coverage up a little bit and we’ll have two strong weeks of practice to prepare for those guys.”
Lemoore’s final two touchdowns were in the third period as they erased a 14-14 halftime tie and appeared headed to a big second half. It was Richard Doctor’s 40-yard touchdown run that put the Tigers up for good.
It was actually Mt. Whitney that took the early lead late in the first period on a two-yard TD run from Daniel Alvarado. With about six minutes left in the game Jhomar Abello connected on a 21-yard pass to Trenton Mcghuey for a touchdown as the Tigers roared back to tie the game at 7-7.
Rashaun Davis scored on a 71-yard TD pass to put the Tigers up 14-7, but with just about a minute left in the half, Brooks threw a 45-yard TD pass to Chris Angulo to tie the game going into the half.
Lemoore improved to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the WYL. Mt. Whitney fell to 1-6 and 1-3.
