Sonora Wins First of Season by Defeating Santiago, 14-10

Sonora, in its final game before entering Freeway League play next week, scored a 14-10 victory over Santiago Friday night at La Habra Stadium, providing Raider Coach Steve Silberman with a bit of optimism.

After all, it was his Raiders who put together a 69-yard touchdown drive to go ahead of the Cavaliers, 14-10, on Gary Stick’s second two-yard touchdown run of the game with four minutes left, and then held on for their first victory of the season as Santiago drove to the Sonora eight as time expired. Both teams are 1-4.

“You talk about winning ugly, this was it,” said Silberman, who was soaked with sweat and looked as if he had just played four quarters of football himself. “What really impressed me was the way the kids battled back from our mistakes. They never got down, and hung in there, which they didn’t do earlier in the year.”

Sonora’s winning drive followed a 27-yard field goal by Santiago’s Francis Chan, which gave the Cavaliers a 10-6 advantage with nine minutes left.

The Raiders’ 69-yard, 11-play drive featured several key plays. Probably the most important was quarterback Billy Robb’s 26-yard completion to Stick on third and 22 from the Raiders’ 32-yard line. Stick capped the drive by going over from the two, and Robb followed that with a two-point conversion pass to Scott Goldfarb.