Late defensive stand delivers Crescenta Valley football victory in Florida
From storybook effort to near nightmare, the Crescenta Valley High football team endured plenty in Thursday evening’s season opener at the KSA Events Kickoff Classic at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.
In the end, the Falcons extended the area’s longest season-opening winning streak to 11 games by hanging on for a 34-31 victory over Barron Collier of Naples, Fla. in a contest that ended past midnight Eastern Standard Time.
Crescenta Valley running back Joe Suh was selected his team’s offensive most valuable player after rushing for 213 yards and three touchdowns, while sophomore defensive back Angel Ochoa turned in an interception and was named the Falcons’ defensive MVP.
“It was a great experience and great to get the win after all the work the kids put into fundraising,” said Crescenta Valley coach Paul Schilling, whose team will be heading to Disney World on Saturday. “We played a really good team, a real quality team and it got scary at the end. We were dying out there, but we just held on.”
Barron Collier scored the game’s final 14 points and pulled with 34-31 when the home team forced a punt from the Falcons and took over possession at its 43-yard line with 5:24 left in the game.
Only two minutes earlier, the Falcons led by 17 points and the team leaned on its defense, which forced a crucial three-and-out.
Crescenta Valley received the ball back with 4:27 remaining at its 10, picked up two first downs on runs from Suh and Ochoa, and wound out the clock to preserve the win.
“We’ve got to go to Disneyland,” Suh shouted after the victory in a game that appeared to be a slam dunk for the Falcons.
Suh scored his third touchdown of the game from three yards out with 8:19 left to give Crescenta Valley a 34-17 lead after a missed extra-point.
The score capped a 27-3 run for the Falcons after Barron Collier took its only lead in the first quarter, 14-7.
The Cougars didn’t wilt, however, and responded with a 15-yard touchdown catch from Barron Collier defensive MVP Dana Brown with 7:27 left.
Brown continued his team’s surge with an interception on a Falcons botched trick play that gave Barron Collier the ball at Crescenta Valley’s 28. On the next play, school offensive MVP Andres Satizabal broke free for a touchdown run that, with the successful point-after, brought the Cougars within 34-31 at the 6-minute mark.
“At halftime, I thought we were in better condition than Barron, but it was about midway through the third that I noticed we were rapidly declining,” Schilling said. “We were cramping up all over the place and the humidity got to us. It’s just nice that we were able to build up a cushion.”
The game was tied at 14 after one quarter with Crescenta Valley scoring on touchdown runs of three and 25 yards by Suh.
Barron Collier countered with a Satizabal scoring rush and an interception return for a touchdown from Brown.
The Falcons took the lead for good with two touchdowns in the second quarter to go ahead, 28-14, at the break. Tyler Lobianco hauled in a 55-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Cole Doyle, who later hooked up on a 20-yard score to Brian Erickson.
The only score of the third quarter was a 24-yard field goal from Barron Collier’s Ryan Bloch.
