‘There’s no better feeling in the world.’ Broncos defeat Coalinga to win WSL championship.
Dos Palos High School senior Peyton Van Worth wore the Broncos’ turnover chain with pride and it didn’t appear like he was taking it off anytime soon.
Van Worth came up with an interception with less than 2 minutes left in the game to seal a 21-20 Dos Palos win over Coalinga to clinch the West Sierra League championship on Friday night at Bill Hume Stadium in Dos Palos.
It was fifth interception of the night by the Broncos defense and it set off a wild celebration on the Dos Palos sideline.
“Unbelievable man, last year we worked hard for it and then we lost at the end against these guys so it feels great to get back and win it,” Van Worth said. “We came through at the end. Rough first half, we came through in the second half, made some big plays and we made it happen.”
It was the first time wearing the turnover chain this season for Van Worth because it was the first time the Dos Palos quarterback had played defense this year.
Some shuffling of the defense led to Van Worth playing safety at times against the Horned Toads.
“We had a guy go down so they had to move one of our safeties to linebacker and they said you’re going in on combo, man,” Van Worth said. “I said, ‘All right, fair enough.’ I got one at the end to save the game right there.”
Both teams came in with identical 8-1 records on the season and 4-0 in the WSL. The game lived up to the championship hype as both defenses dominated.
Coalinga took advantage of a long punt return to set up its first score, which was a 12-yard touchdown run by running back Gustavo Alvarado, and then cashed in a Dos Palos fumble to set up its go-ahead score late in the first half.
Horned Toads safety Jaden Pena recovered a fumble by Dos Palos receiver Sixto Ibarra to set up the Coalinga offense at the Broncos’ 25-yard line.
On the next play, Coalinga quarterback Noah Tasi connected with receiver Dylan Teixeira on a 24-yard touchdown pass to give the Horned Toads a 14-7 lead that they would take into the half.
Meanwhile, Dos Palos’ only first-half score came on a 32-yard interception return for a touchdown by Ibarra that tied the game at 7-7 midway through the second quarter.
“Defense stepped up big,” said Dos Palos coach Rob Calvert. “That was kind of our Achilles’ heel coming into the game. You know what, we said we were going to challenge these guys. We manned up on them, brought some pressure on these guys and I don’t think anybody has ever done that to them and it kind of caught them off guard. We got some turnovers and some big stops and some sacks on them.”
The Broncos defense collected five sacks to go along with the five interceptions. Freshman defensive lineman Justin Hurd recorded two sacks.
Ibarra had the pick-six and Jacquez Jones came up with a big interception near the end zone to stop a Horned Toads’ scoring opportunity in the second half.
A fumble recovery by Dos Palos defensive lineman Dominic Malfabon set up the Broncos with the go-ahead score.
Dos Palos took over at the Coalinga 11-yard line with the score tied 14-14 with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Broncos eventually set up for a go-ahead field goal, but it was blocked. Dos Palos senior lineman Donovan Frazier picked up the ball and advanced it. After a discussion, the officials ruled the kick did not pass the line of scrimmage so Frazier’s recovery was allowed and the ball was placed at Coalinga’s 1-yard line with first and goal to go.
Van Worth scored two plays later on a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Broncos their first lead at 21-14 with 11:10 left in the game.
“We’ve been in some tough games all year,” Calvert said. “We’ve battled through adversity and we never ever give up. We just kept grinding and the guys stepped up. We had some adversity early and we found a way to win in the second half.”
The Horned Toads had an opportunity to pull even late when receiver Gavin Watson pulled in a one-handed grab and then lunged into the end zone for a touchdown to pull Coalinga within 21-20 with 2:30 left on the clock.
However, the Horned Toads missed the extra point kick wide right.
Coalinga used their three timeouts to force Dos Palos to punt after a three-and-out. Teixeira then appeared to come up with a big 40-yard punt return to move the ball into the red zone for a possible go-ahead score, but the Horned Toads were called for a blindside block on the return and had to start the drive at their own 30-yard line.
Penalties were an issue for Coalinga all night as the Horned Toads had two touchdowns called back due to holding penalties just before the half. Horned Toad players were called for multiple unsportsmanlike penalties throughout the game to go along with the untimely holding penalties.
The Horned Toads final drive set the stage for Van Worth to come up with the big interception to preserve the victory and the championship.
“You just feel like you’re on top of the world,” said Van Worth, still wearing the turnover chain after the game. “There’s no better feeling in the world.”
Both teams will now wait to see who they will face in the Central Section playoffs.
