Winning Hand for El Camino Real

It proved to be the difference in the game, yet no one would take credit for it.

“Well, just call it a team thing,” El Camino Real co-Coach Mike Maio said.

El Camino Real blocked an extra-point attempt late in the third quarter against San Fernando, and it eventually gave the Conquistadores a 14-13 victory over the Tigers in a pivotal North Valley League game.

After San Fernando quarterback Leon Blunt scored his second touchdown of the game, on a 12-yard keeper, it appeared the Tigers would tie it for the second time. But Ricardo Rivas’ kick, attempted from 25 yards because of a five-yard penalty, was blocked at the line of scrimmage.

Jay Graham appeared to get a hand on it, but he wouldn’t take the credit. “No, it wasn’t me. I don’t know who got it,” Graham said.

Despite giving up 338 yards to Blunt and Co., El Camino Real won the game with defense.

The Conquistadores (7-2, 4-2 in league play) stopped San Fernando when it counted most, on the Tigers’ final drive.

The Tigers (6-3, 4-2) took possession with 5:40 remaining. A 49-yard punt by Michael Cooper forced Blunt to start at the Tigers’ four-yard line.

Blunt, who passed for 109 yards and rushed for 106, twice converted fourth-and-long situations to keep the Tigers’ hopes alive. A 20-yard pass to Flip Aguilar on fourth and 12 moved the Tigers past midfield with little more than one minute remaining.

But after an incomplete pass and two scrambles that netted seven yards, Blunt overthrew Aguilar at the 10-yard line to end the Tiger threat with 18 seconds left.

Blunt got the game rolling San Fernando’s third play from scrimmage. He kept the ball on an option, found a small seam on the right side, spun 360 degrees through a host of tacklers and raced past the secondary for a 56-yard touchdown.

After San Fernando forced El Camino Real’s second punt, the Tigers took over on their own six-yard line. Blunt gained eight yards on another option keeper and handed off to Brian Jackson on second and two. Jackson turned the corner and raced to the 34, where he was apprehended by Brian Tade.

While Tade had Jackson corralled, Joey Maiden came up and stole the ball, circled a mass of players and--amid much confusion--ran into the end zone for a touchdown to tie it, 7-7.

“All week long our coaches have been telling us how easy it was to strip the ball from them,” Maiden said. “It was there, I grabbed it, and started running with it.”

El Camino Real scored again early in the second quarter on a 67-yard off-tackle run by Chris Shinnick, who rushed for 130 of the Conquistadores’ 176 total yards.