Big Plays Provide Spark for Quartz Hill

Second place in the Golden League came down to 2 1/2 hours of hard hits and big plays Thursday, and Quartz Hill High came up with two more big plays than Palmdale to escape with a come-from-behind, 28-25 win.

Quartz Hill (6-4 overall, 4-1 in league play) used a big play on a fourth and two at Palmdale’s three-yard line as Selves Smith barreled into the end zone to give the Rebels a 27-25 lead with 3:16 left. Chad Watters added the point-after.

“Was that fourth down?” Quartz Hill Coach John Albee joked. “There wasn’t any doubt about going for it.”

Quartz Hill added another big play after LaShante Parker returned the ensuing kickoff 60 yards to the Quartz Hill 37. Nose guard Paul Kaplin intercepted Joe Pica’s pass over the middle at the 32 with 2:09 left. Pica finished 10 of 19 for 169 yards and two touchdowns.

The Rebels eventually punted, but held Palmdale again to secure second place.

Quartz Hill built an early 14-0 lead when it turned a pair of turnovers into a 22-yard scoring run by Erik Thomas and a 20-yard touchdown run by Smith.

Palmdale came back behind Parker--who finished with 142 yards in 24 carries and had 221 all-purpose yards--and John Johnson. Johnson caught a 10-yard pass from Pica and Parker added a 24-yard run to pull Palmdale within 14-13 with 6:08 left in the first half.

But Palmdale botched the first of three point-after attempts, which combined to be the difference in the final score. Parker added a one-yard run to give Palmdale a 19-14 lead with 28 seconds left.

Quartz Hill quarterback Kendial Armstrong then came up with one of the biggest plays of the game. He avoided what appeared to be a sure sack, scrambled left, and threw to Joshua Patterson for a 67-yard score.

Watters’ point-after gave Quartz Hill a 21-19 halftime lead.

Palmdale went ahead, 25-21, when Johnson--who caught four passes for 79 yards--broke past the secondary for a 47-yard touchdown reception with 59 seconds left in the third quarter. The two-point conversion attempt failed when Parker was pushed out of bounds at the one.

The teams traded drives before Quartz Hill put together the game-winning 61-yard march. Smith hit Robert Keller for 30 yards on a halfback-option pass, then Thomas scampered 17 yards to Palmdale’s one, setting up Smith for his game-winning dive.

Thomas finished with 106 yards in 19 carries and Smith ran 15 times for 82 yards.