La Quinta Remains Unbeaten
The tears in Ben Fredrickson’s eyes told the story. La Quinta, doormat of the Garden Grove League for most of the 1990s, is 4-0.
Yes, 4-0.
And Fredrickson is a big reason why. With 90 seconds left in the game, he flew into Santiago’s backfield untouched and stripped the ball from running back James Thomas. Defensive lineman Benny Soto scooped it up and glided 20 yards into the end zone, giving La Quinta an 8-7 victory over Santiago Thursday night at Bolsa Grande in the Garden Grove League opener.
“What a great victory,” Fredrickson said. “We have a lot of heart and we like to play football. We’re out to shock the world.”
If nothing else, the Aztecs have shocked a few people in the county. Santiago Coach Ben Haley swears they didn’t shock him.
“I don’t know if they were looking ahead to Los Amigos, only their hearts know for sure,” Haley said. “But I knew this could happen. La Quinta is a good football team.”
But the Aztecs appeared to be headed to their first loss. Santiago (3-1, 0-1) had gained two first downs and La Quinta was down to their last timeout. La Quinta Coach Jeff Veeder ran out on the field and told his team not to surrender.
“I got down in the huddle with them and told them, ‘It’s not over till it’s over,’ ” Veeder said. “I said, ‘Right now, we’re going to strip the ball and run it in for a touchdown.’ ”
Sure enough, Veeder was right. Veeder admitted his plan was aided by Santiago’s play call--a counter to Thomas that was slow in developing. Veeder was pleased the ball didn’t go to fullback Daniel Melendez, who had bulled his way for 118 yards in 14 carries.
“I think we were all a little surprised [at the play call],” Veeder said. “We weren’t stopping that [Daniel Melendez] all night. Thank God they didn’t give it to him.”
Afterward, Santiago Coach Ben Haley was wishing he and offensive coordinator Dick Hill had called Melendez’s number.
“I’m sure even Dick has some second thoughts about calling that,” Haley said. “We should have run the dive. They did a good job of stripping the ball and we did a good job of fumbling it.”
When La Quinta scored, Veeder had a difficult call of his own. Should he play for the tie or the win? Veeder played for the tie, but Santiago jumped offsides on the extra-point attempt and he changed his mind.
“I was thinking about playoff implications,” Veeder said. “I believe we’re a playoff team.”
After a timeout, Veeder called the only two-point conversion play in his playbook--off tackle to fullback Luis Saavedra. Veeder said Saavedra ran through the wrong hole, but it didn’t matter. He scored anyway.
Santiago clinched it when safety Josue Pena picked off Santiago quarterback Brian Pilkington’s wobbly pass and returned it 25 yards. The turnover was Santiago’s fourth--three fumbles and an interception.