Antelope Valley Uses Shortcut to Win Title : High school football: Pair of short-yardage plays pivotal in Antelopes’ 27-3 victory over Quartz Hill.

When Antelope Valley High reflects on how it obtained sole possession of the Golden League football championship, the team can point to a pair of crucial short-yardage plays.

Quartz Hill trailed by four points midway through the third quarter and drove to the Antelope 30-yard line. But on fourth and one, fullback Brian Pereira was stuffed by Caleb Smith and Sean Cartaya for no gain.

Three plays later, Antelope Valley faced third and one. Tailback Jermaine Lewis took the handoff, bounced off a tackler and raced 60 yards for a touchdown.

The plays broke open a close game and allowed Antelope Valley to pull away with a 27-3 victory Friday night. The Antelopes finished the regular season 7-2, 5-0 in league play.

“The fourth-down play was totally our turning point,” Antelope Valley defensive lineman Chad Shrout said. “We just decided we weren’t going to allow them any more yards.”

Quartz Hill (5-3-2, 2-2-1) qualified for the Southern Section Division II playoffs because Ridgecrest Burroughs defeated Highland Friday night.

On Antelope Valley’s next possession after Lewis’ scoring run, five consecutive plays from a full-house backfield gained big chunks of yardage before quarterback Trymon Redick scored on a 10-yard run to make it 21-3.

The Rebels were held without a first down the rest of the game.

“The (full-house backfield) was a formation we were saving to use against Quartz Hill,” Lewis said. “We ran it a lot and it was working so we kept with it.”

Lewis added a 11-yard run late in the game to cap the scoring. He finished with 181 yards and three touchdowns in 23 carries. Redick added 78 yards in six carries.

Quartz Hill played without leading rusher Jeremiah Harris, who was suspended for the game. Jeff Diamond finished with 50 yards in 17 carries. Pereira had 48 yards in 10 carries.

A 23-yard pass from Jeff Diamond to James Welch on a halfback option set up a 32-yard field goal by Diamond midway through the second quarter for Quartz Hill’s only score.