Santiago Rallies in Second Half to Beat Magnolia

Santiago Coach Ben Haley played it cool after his Cavaliers rallied from a two-touchdown deficit to knock off Magnolia, 27-20, Friday night at Garden Grove High.

“We’re a good second-half team,” Haley said. “We really progress as time goes by--our guys are in good condition.”

The senior-laden Cavaliers struggled to move the ball early and found themselves in a 14-0 hole as Magnolia built its lead on a one-yard Jorge Martinez run and a one-yard scoring sneak by Eric Freund.

Santiago closed the gap to 14-7 before halftime as Jose Palacios scored on a ive-yard run to cap a 42-yard drive.

Magnolia moved the ball to the Santiago 10 on its first possession of the third quarter before turning it over on downs. It took only four plays for the Cavaliers to go 90 yards, as Victor Martinez’s 43-yard run set up a 24-yard scoring pass from Ben Tran to Octavio Villa to tie the score at 14.

Santiago took the game away from the Sentinels with two quick touchdowns in the final quarter. Cesar Soltero picked off an Anthony Zaragoza pass and returned it to the Magnolia 17. Tran connected with Villa on the next play and the Cavaliers had their first lead.

On the next play from scrimmage, Zaragoza threw another interception which Ray Martinez returned to the Magnolia 11. Palacios scored his second touchdown of the evening two plays later, giving Santiago a 27-14 lead with 7:40 to play.