Central East holds off Oxnard Pacifica to win Division 1-A state football title
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- Fresno Central East defeats Oxnard Pacifica 42-28 to win the Division 1-A state football title, spoiling the Tritons’ redemption bid.
- Pacifica, seeking to bounce back from last year’s 2-AA state final loss, suffered its first defeat of the season.
- Central East’s explosive offense, led by quarterback Jelani Dippel’s 58th touchdown pass, overpowered the high-octane Tritons at Saddleback College.
Oxnard Pacifica had loads of motivation heading into Saturday’s CIF state 1-A bowl game. Having fallen to Sacramento Grant in the 2-AA state final last season, the Tritons were anxious to redeem themselves against Fresno Central East in one of the weekend’s marquee matchups.
The game showcased two high-octane offenses, but every spectacular play by the Tritons was answered as they were dealt their first defeat, 42-28, in the second of three games at Saddleback College.
“You’ve gotta win on third down and we weren’t,” Pacifica coach Mike Moon said. “Their offense is hard to stop. We thought we’d be able to score with them and we couldn’t. We wanted to go up-tempo and we weren’t able to do that.”
Pacifica scored first, marching 91 yards in 12 plays, capped by Taylor Lee’s 15-yard strike to Tyler Stewart with 3:21 left in the first quarter. The North region champions punted during their first three possessions and turned it over on downs on the fourth, but ultimately tied the game on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Jelani Dippel to Bayon Harris that finished an eight-play, 78-yard drive with 5:43 left in the second quarter.
After forcing a punt, Central East moved 82 yards in 10 plays and took a 14-7 lead on Brandon Smith’s two-yard run 1:05 before halftime.
Pacifica received the second-half kickoff and drove 71 yards in seven plays, tying the game 14-14 on a one-yard rush by Isaiah Phelps and David Carranza’s extra point.
Central East moved deep into Pacifica territory on its ensuing drive before Phelps deflected the ball and PeeWee Wilson intercepted it at the Tritons’ 24. However, Pacifica (15-1) was forced to punt, and Central East regained the lead on Smith’s four-yard run with 4:03 left in the third quarter and upped the margin to 28-14 on Dippel’s state-leading 58th touchdown pass, a 34-yarder to Kevin Cooks.
“We knew it was going to be a battle,” Moon added. “They made plays when they needed to and we didn’t. Simple as that.”
In a battle of unbeaten small-school powers, the Kares’ leading rusher is hobbled and they can’t keep pace with the Wildcats.
Lee hit Alijah Royster in stride for a 74-yard gain to Central East’s four-yard line, and Phelps powered across the goal line on the next play to cut the Tritons’ deficit in half with 10:20 left in the game.
However, the Bengals (14-1) recovered a fumble at the Pacifica 18 and took two plays to capitalize on Dippel’s five-yard keeper.
Royster’s 12-yard touchdown reception made it 35-28 with 6:25 left, but Smith scampered 15 yards for his third touchdown to close the scoring with 3:21 left.
Pacifica beat Palos Verdes 20-10 to capture the Southern Section Division 3 title Nov. 28 for its second CIF crown in a row under Moon. The Tritons defeated St. Bonaventure in the Division 4 final last year.
Fresno Central East lost to Huntington Beach Edison in the state 1-A bowl last year at Saddleback.
Despite a late surge orchestrated by quarterback Derek Garcia, Ventura loses to San Francisco St. Ignatius College Prep 42-35 in the CIF state Division 3-AA bowl.
Lee completed 21 of 31 for 317 yards and two touchdowns but was intercepted twice and sacked three times. Phelps ran for 127 yards in 23 carries. Royster caught six passes for 114 yards and Stewart had seven catches for 93.
Pacifica has played 32 games in the last two seasons and won two section and two regional crowns, just not the ultimate prize it covets.
“It’s a long two years to not have a state championship … but we’ll try to get back next year,” said Moon, who has scheduled nonleague games with Sierra Canyon and San Diego Lincoln next fall. “This is a super group of seniors and the younger players will grow from this.”
