Carpinteria Hands Oak Park 1st Loss, 14-7
Oak Park High fell from the ranks of the undefeated Friday night as Carpinteria used strong defense and a ball-control offense to hold off the Eagles, 14-7, in a Tri-Valley League game at Carpinteria Junior High.
The decisive score came with 52 seconds left in the third quarter when Carpinteria tailback Tim Jimenez capped a 12-play, 60-yard march with a 22-yard run. The Warriors twice kept the drive alive by converting on fourth down.
An interception by Carpinteria linebacker Josh Zicherman with 3:15 to play in the first half set up a one-yard run by Warrior quarterback Son Ngo with 1:02 left that gave Carpinteria (7-2, 2-1 in league play) a 7-0 lead at intermission.
Oak Park scored on a one-yard run by tailback Tarik Smith with 2:07 to play, but Carpinteria ran out the clock after recovering an onside kick.
Smith, who entered the game with 1,294 rushing yards, was held to 62 in 17 carries.
Patrick McIntyre paced Carpinteria with 75 yards in 20 rushes.
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