Cypress quarterback Garet Crenshaw found Aaron Bojorquez for a 25-yard touchdown completion on a fourth down play with 27 seconds left in the game that lifted the Centurions to a 17-13 win over Sonora on Friday at Handel Stadium.
Sonora had a a chance to run out the clock after taking over possession with 3:41 left in the game. But a fumble by the Raiders was recovered by Chase Vigil to set up the Centurions at the Raider 42 yard line. Crenshaw had completions to Bojorquez and Harvie Grijalva to get the Centurions down to the 20 yard line.
But a penalty and a couple of incompletions had brought Cypress to fourth down.
Needing seven yards for a first down to keep the drive alive, Cypress coach Rick Feldman admitted the team basically drew up a play in the dirt. Bojorquez was given the option to run a post pattern to pick up the first down, or break for the end zone, depending on the defense.
Bojorquez broke for the end zone and Crenshaw laid a pass over the top. Bojorquez hauled in the pass with a defender grabbing him as he lunged across the goal line.
“I was looking to extend the drive and I saw him open, I had to give him a chance, I’m glad I went for it,” Crenshaw said of the pass to Bojorquez.
Cypress had taken a 3-0 lead into half and had kept Sonora in check much of the way. However, in the second half, the Raiders found a spark. After returning the kickoff to the Cypress 43 yard line, the Raiders struck fast with a halfback option pass from Justin Hernandez to Kailob Haag for a 43-yard touchdown that gave Sonora a 6-3 lead after a failed point after.
Late in the third, the Raiders drove to the Cypress 20 yard line before the Centurions forced a turnover on downs. But the Raiders capitalized anyway when Chandler Thompson intercepted the pass on Cypress’ first play and returned it to the end zone to push the Raider lead to 13-3.
Cypress was able to get back on track in midway through the fourth with two big plays on an 80-yard drive. Crenshaw hit Harvie Grijalva for a 26 yard gain and then followed that with another completion to Grijalva for a 56 yard touchdown. Grijalva caught the ball over the middle, broke a tackle and outran the defense to the end zone to cut the lead to 13-10.
Cypress improved to 2-2 with the win after dropping its first two games of the season. They also were able to get the win without key players Isaac Hurtado and Elias Rios, who were expected back from injuries this week, but were held out for another week. Feldman said the Centurions have been improving, and just in time for a tough test in two weeks.
“That [win] was big going into our bye break to have some momentum,” Feldman said.
The Centurions will have this week off before traveling to Capistrano Valley High for their final pre-league game on Sept. 21. After dropping their first two games, the Centurions have won two straight. Bojorquez said the younger players are stepping up and there has been a lot of improvement.
“The improvement’s great, you know, we’ve had some hurt guys and they’re coming back and we have Issac Hurtado coming back for Capo and he’s going to be a big part of our offense and defense,” Bojorquez said.