Wilson Drummed Out of Playoffs by Quartz Hill, 49-14

Fans cleared the field and cars rolled out of the parking lot at Quartz Hill High on Friday night, but the Long Beach Wilson drum corps stayed behind, pounding the skins furiously on the football field.

It would be somewhat of an understatement to say that therein lay an element of role reversal.

For it was Long Beach Wilson that was pounded like a drum in the second half. Golden League champion Quartz Hill (9-2) scored 28 second-half points to post a 49-14 victory in a Southern Section Division I playoff game.

Quartz Hill advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since the Aaron Emanuel days of 1983.

Wilson appeared to have momentum late in the second quarter when the score was tied, 14-14. But Quartz Hill quarterback Jake Haro hit Josh Patterson on a 50-yard pass to set up Selves Smith’s one-yard touchdown run before the half.

From there, Wilson couldn’t get over the ‘Hill.

“As the season goes by, we seem to react better in the second half,” said Haro, who completed five of 11 passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns. “In the second half, we’re like a new team.”

Certainly a high-scoring one. A 27-yard run by David Nelson made it 27-14. A 24-yard pass from Haro to Rob Keller made it 35-14. A 19-yard pass from Haro to Nelson made it 42-14. And a 14-yard run by Smith wrapped things up at 49-14.

All the while, the Rebel defense had a ball--literally. Four Rebels intercepted passes by Wilson quarterback Adam Trafas (eight of 30, 70 yards) and two Wilson fumbles wound up in Quartz Hill’s possession.

The three-pronged Quartz Hill running game of Erik Thomas (82 yards), Nelson (54 yards, two touchdowns) and Smith (43 yards, two touchdowns) gained 189 of Quartz Hill’s 303 yards. Put simply, it was not much of a contest.

“They’re a young team,” Quartz Hill Coach John Albee said. “I think we just wore ‘em down.”

Quartz Hill’s defense had not surrendered more than seven points in Golden League play but allowed 14 in the first half alone Friday. Fortunately for the Rebels, they also scored 21.

That Quartz Hill led at intermission was something of an accomplishment. The Rebels shot themselves in the foot with 70 yards in penalties. But they also shot some holes in Wilson (8-4-1) early.

After Ralph Gutierrez recovered a Wilson fumble on the Bruin 26-yard line on the game’s first drive, Nelson plunged in from two yards for a 7-0 lead.

The shutout was short-lived, however. Wilson’s Mike Steward took the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a score, and, after a blocked conversion, the score was 7-6 midway through the first quarter. Outside of Steward’s run, the Bruins were ineffective against the Rebel defense in the first quarter, gaining just six yards.

Quartz Hill answered Steward’s run with a 54-yard touchdown drive, the final play being Smith’s 20-yard touchdown run to the outside. With 3 minutes 17 seconds left in the first quarter, the Rebels led, 14-6, and Quartz Hill appeared dominant.

But Wilson stiffened, halting two Quartz Hill drives before tying the score on a four-yard pass from Trafas to Frankie Russell and the ensuing two-point conversion.