Sekona Helps Magnolia Convert Victory

Peter Sekona sparked a dormant Magnolia offense Friday night, rushing for 171 yards in three quarters and scoring two touchdowns to help lead Magnolia to a 22-20 victory over Santiago in a nonleague game at Glover Stadium.

Sekona gave his team the lift it needed to jump to a 22-0 lead.

It was his successful two-point conversion with 2 minutes 54 seconds left in the third quarter that turned out to be the game’s pivotal play. Sekona injured his right foot and missed the entire fourth quarter.

Santiago (2-1) rallied by scoring on its next three possessions following the injury, but the two-point conversion proved to be the margin of victory.

“We just ran out of gas,” Magnolia Coach Bill Friedrich said.

There was just enough left in the tank to stop the Cavaliers’ final drive to preserve the win, the first for the Sentinels this season.

“This is definitely a different team than we had against Estancia,” said Friedrich, referring to the season-opening 35-0 loss.

Magnolia scored on the opening drive of the game, covering 62 yards in 10 plays, and had its second drive stopped on the three.

The Sentinels added two touchdowns in the third quarter before Santiago bounced back.

Punt returns of 42 yards by Trung Nguyen and 38 yards by Brandan Perry set up touchdowns to get Santiago back in the game.

Perry finished with a game-high 178 yards in 24 carries for Santiago.

Santiago touchdowns were scored by Bryan Thomas, Perry and Brian Pilkington.