Covarrubias Tops 200 Yards as Western Upsets Ganesha

The smile on his face told the story, and when Jason Covarrubias told reporters, “I was having fun,” you had to believe him.

Covarrubias on Friday night had the game he will tell his grandchildren about, rushing 14 times for 209 yards to lift Western to a 28-14 upset of second-seeded Pomona Ganesha in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section Division VI playoffs.

The Pioneers (8-3-1) will play Whittier in the semifinals.

Covarrubias had never run for more than 50 yards from the line of scrimmage in his career, but the 5-foot-11, 175-pound senior reeled off two long-distance carries--including a 94-yarder that proved to be the game-winner--that turned an imminent loss into victory.

Western trailed at halftime, 14-7, and appeared to be doing little right against a team that had three 1,000-yard rushers in the backfield: A fair catch was muffed and the ball was turned over; the quarterback (who was the up-man) called for a fake punt on fourth-and-25 from his own 28, and passed incomplete. It was that kind of a half.

The latter led to Ganesha’s second score when Brandon Brennan’s pass was incomplete. Not only was the timing bad, but the receiver was nowhere near midfield.

“Everybody can make a mistake,” Covarrubias said.

Especially when there’s someone there to pick up the pieces. In this case, it was Covarrubias. Admitting he lacked the speed to burn secondaries, he reeled off a 51-yard run with 5 minutes 12 seconds left in the third quarter, giving Western the ball at the nine. Three plays later, Justin Starkey scored from the one, tying it at 14.

The next time the Pioneers got the ball, it was at their six with 10:56 left in the fourth quarter. With the wind to their back, everyone was looking for a pass.

Instead, Covarrubias took a trap right and found himself in the secondary, running along the sidelines and outsprinting a defense that Coach Garrison Norvell said should never have been outrun.

“I don’t have that great of speed, but I have a lot of courage and a lot of heart,” Covarrubias said. “I wanted that 94-yarder and no one was going to stop me. I was running with my heart.”

After he scored, Western called a time out so he could catch his breath. Then he kicked the extra point, making it 21-7.

The defense continued to hold, and it appeared Western could do no wrong: A fair catch was muffed and bounced into the hands of a Pioneer; Covarrubias missed a field goal attempt but Ganesha was whistled for roughing the kicker, and Covarrubias scored from six yards on the next play with five minutes remaining.