Hilmar storms back in second half to defeat Sonora. Le Grand, Mariposa will meet in semis
The Hilmar High football erased an 11-point deficit in the second half to knock off the No. 3 seed Sonora 35-31 in the second round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V playoffs on Friday night at Sonora High.
The No. 6 Yellowjackets (10-2) made adjustments at half and got their offense moving after being limited to just 27 yards of offense in the first half.
Hilmar took advantage of some special teams mistakes and turnovers by the Wildcats (6-4).
Sonora fumbled on its first offensive play in the second half and Hilmar’s Jason Pimentel pounded on it. Pimentel then scored on a 5-yard run to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 18-15 in the third quarter.
Pimentel later connected on a long pass to Derek Taylor to set up a Broc Perry touchdown run to give Hilmar a 22-18 lead with 6:53 left in the third quarter.
After Sonora regained the lead with a touchdown, Hilmar answered back with a long drive capped off by a 4-yard touchdown run by Perry to give the Yellowjackets a 29-25 lead. Perry scored three touchdowns on the night.
The Yellowjackets extended the lead to 35-25 when a Sonora player touched a Yellowjackets’ punt near the Wildcats’ goal line and Jax Branco recovered it for a touchdown with 10:31 left in the game.
Sonora scored late to cut the lead to 35-31, but the Yellowjackets advanced to the semifinals next week.
“The adjustments we made in the second half worked,” said Hilmar coach Frank Marques. “We were like a different team in the second half.”
Friday’s playoff game was a rematch of a Sept. 10 game won by Hilmar over Sonora 28-21.
Hilmar will host the semifinal game against No. 7 Casa Roble (7-4) after the Rams upset No. 2 Union Mine 35-33 on Friday night.
“We were getting ready to shake hands and someone told us we were hosting next week,” Marques said. “That was a huge surprise.”
Le Grand 27, Big Valley Christian 6 — Louie Aguallo rushed for two second-half touchdowns to help the No. 3 seeded Bulldogs pull away from the No. 6 Lions in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII playoffs.
Big Valley Christian (4-7) had success running the ball, but the Bulldogs defense came up with the big plays when they needed them.
Jeremiah Lopez delivered the first big defensive play for Le Grand (6-5) with a pick-six, returning a first-quarter interception 85 yards to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead.
Le Grand extended the lead to 14-0 in the third quarter when quarterback Julian Bucio connected with Carlos Castaneda for a 48-yard touchdown.
Aguallo added touchdown runs of 9 and 1 yards to help the Bulldogs put the game away.
Le Grand will host rival Mariposa (6-5) in the semifinals next week after the No. 7 Grizzlies upset No. 2 Vacaville Christian 7-6 on Friday night.
Le Grand edged Mariposa 24-20 in the regular season finale on Oct. 29.
This story was originally published November 13, 2021 at 12:23 AM.
