Dos Palos stops two-point conversion late to defeat Morro Bay in wild playoff finish
As Morro Bay High School quarterback Nicky Johnson hauled in a pass for a possible game-winning two-point conversion with just over 1 minute left in the game, four Dos Palos defenders quickly turned their head to the sideline official.
The official immediately signaled incomplete pass, ruling Johnson was out of bounds.
The Broncos players started celebrating as they ran toward their sideline as No. 3 seed Dos Palos held off No. 6 Morro Bay for a 28-27 victory in the second round of the Central Section Division V playoffs at Bill Hume Stadium on Thursday night.
“I’m not going to lie I was worried,” said Dos Palos coach Rob Calvert, whose team improved to 7-5 this season. “I’m thinking they’re running at us and they run that little Philly Special at us and we actually defended it well. I was glad we got the stop.”
The Pirates (5-7) scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull within 28-27 with 1:07 left on the clock. Running back Nami Hoag scored on a 3-yard run for his second touchdown of the game to pull Morrow Bay within one point.
Pirates coach Robert Dougherty opted to go for two and the lead and they called a trick play with Johsnon going in motion before the snap. Hoag took the snap from running back and handed the ball to receiver Ian Lambright, who threw to Johnson in the end zone.
Johnson caught the ball but was ruled out of bounds.
“It was really crazy, honestly,” said Dos Palos senior linebacker Mike Cantu. “I’m speechless.”
Dos Palos leaned heavily on freshman running back Andre Flores to carry the offense.
Flores, who was promoted from the junior varsity team late in the season, carried the ball 18 times for 253 yards and two touchdowns.
Flores broke free for touchdowns of 53 and 44 yards and now has five total touchdowns in the Broncos’ two playoff wins.
“I don’t really have a lot of words to describe what I feel right now,” Flores said. “The O-line and receivers just blocking down field, continue to bust their (butt) to continue to block for me and I’m just really, really happy that I’m with these boys right now.”
Calvert says the freshman is special.
“He was great tonight,” Calvert said. “I tell people he’s a freshman and they don’t believe it, but he’s got a second step on him that you can’t teach. He’s going to be a great one.”
The Broncos took a 14-7 lead into halftime after Cantu hauled in two touchdown catches from Peyton Van Worth.
Dos Palos extended the lead to 21-7 on Flores’ 53-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that set up the wild finish in the fourth quarter.
Johnson completed 16 of 35 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns.
The Broncos defense harassed him all night, sacking four times and intercepting him twice in the first half by Sixto Ibarra and Ruben Chavez. Broncos defensive end Felix Garcia recorded 2.5 sacks.
“We got a lot of pressure on the quarterback, hit him a lot of times,” Calvert said. “That kid was a good quarterback. He threw for over 2,000 yards this season, over 20 touchdowns. We knew he was going to be an issue and we wanted to get after him.”
The Broncos advance to the semifinals next week against No. 2 Atascadero, which defeated No. 7 Madera South 39-8 on Thursday night.
Stone Ridge Christian 36, Mariposa 13 — Hector Esquivez and Daijon O’Neil both scored two rushing touchdowns as the No. 4 Knights (9-2) defeated No. 5. Mariposa at Yosemite High in Oakhurst.
Stone Ridge Christian tight end Max Freidland added a 40-yard touchdown reception from Noah Lund.
The Knights advance to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII semifinals next week against the winner of Friday’s quarterfinal matchup of No. 8 Rio Vista and No. 1 Ripon Christian.
This story was originally published November 10, 2022 at 11:57 PM.
