Trailblazers score last-second touchdown to sink Vikings

VISALIA – As their Division II Central Section quarterfinal game came down to the wire this past Friday, No. 2 seed Golden West football needed a miracle. Trailing No. 7 seed Kingsburg 34-28 with 27.8 seconds left on the clock, 70 yards stood between the Trailblazers and the endzone. With their season on the line, the Trailblazers made that miracle happen.

Thanks to a facemask penalty and a 39-yard completion, the Trailblazers quickly reached the Kingsburg 11-yard line. With less than 10 seconds remaining, quarterback Jayden Najera threw a screen pass to running back Case Anders who took it down to the one-yard line for a first down. It looked like the clock ran out, but the officials put one second back in order to reset the chains. As the officials started the clock again on their whistle, the Trailblazers quickly snapped the ball and handed it off to Anders who bulldozed his way into the endzone. Then with the chance to punch the Trailblazers’ ticket to the semifinals, kicker Matthew Garza nailed the extra point to give his team the 35-34 win on Nov. 15. 

“We knew it would be difficult but our boys responded,” Golden West head coach Travis Anderson said about the last-second victory. “It was a different situation that we haven’t been in all year. We haven’t faced adversity like that.”

The last-second touchdown also capped off a thrilling comeback for the Trailblazers after they trailed 21-11 at halftime. As the Trailblazers caught fire to outscore the Vikings 24-13 in the second half, Anders believes the team demonstrated resiliency by overcoming their slow start. 

“It just shows our determination. We came out in the second half playing like our normal selves,” Anders said. “We played a really good, tough Kingsburg team. They came out ready to work.”

Even on their first drive, the Trailblazers demonstrated their big-play ability. As the Trailblazers went for it on fourth down on their own 48-yard line, Najera found Anders deep down the left sideline. After he caught the ball, Anders shook a couple defenders to break away for the touchdown. The Trailblazers then converted the two-point try to make it an 8-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.

Golden West looked to add onto their lead after they forced the Vikings to punt their opening possession. But as he returned the punt, Isaac Elias lost the ball and the Vikings recovered. The Vikings quickly worked their way down the field and got into the endzone thanks to a six-yard touchdown run from running back Drew Lunde. However, they failed the two-point try to continue trailing 8-6.

Through the rest of the half, the Golden West offense struggled to get going. Despite reaching the red zone, they settled for a field goal from Garza to push the lead to 11-6. After the Vikings took a 14-11 lead thanks to a 23-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kade Holt to wide receiver Daylan Breckenridge, Najera threw an interception to Breckenridge, now playing defensive back. 

The Vikings capitalized on the turnover with a three-yard touchdown run from Dylan Darling to push the lead to 21-11. The Trailblazers looked to respond with a scoring drive to end the half, but Najera threw an interception to Chris Browe to keep it a 10-point deficit. 

“I give all the credit to Kingsburg. They’re a great team and they’re very well coached,” Anderson said about Kingsburg’s takeaways. “They had a great game plan for our offense and I think they just made great plays.”

To open the second half, the Golden West offense did find some momentum as they worked their way to the red zone. However, Najera was shaken up on a play and had to miss a few snaps. Without their starting quarterback, the Trailblazers settled for another field goal from Garza to cut the deficit to 21-14. 

When Najera reentered the game later in the third, he gave his team a spark as he quickly marched them down to the eight-yard line. He then called his own number as he scrambled his way into the endzone to tie the game with just over a minute left in the third quarter.

“We slowed down and went to our basics,” Anders said about the second-half offense. “We stopped making silly decisions, we relied on each other and we rallied behind each other.”

Later in the fourth, the Trailblazers continued to move their way down the field. As they reached the red zone once again, Najera looked to make another big play with his legs. But as he approached the goal line, he fumbled the ball towards the endzone. Thankfully for the quarterback, wide receiver Cadillac Pina scooped up the ball and carried it in for the touchdown to give the Trailblazers a 28-21 lead.

After allowing 17 unanswered points to start the second half, the Viking offense finally got back on track. As they got their ground game and passing attack going again, they worked their way down to the Golden West eight-yard line. Lunde then ran it in for the score to tie the game 28-28 with just over three and a half minutes left on the clock. 

After the Trailblazers went three-and-out, the Vikings again marched their way down the field. With 35.2 seconds remaining, Lunde scored from 15 yards for his third touchdown of the game. However, the Vikings missed the crucial extra point to keep their lead at 34-28. 

With 27.8 seconds left and their season on the line, the Trailblazers needed to quickly move down the field. Najera opened the drive with a quick completion to Elias, who drew a facemask penalty on the play that put Golden West at the 50. Then with time in the pocket, Najera eventually found a receiver wide open down the field to get Golden West down to the Kingsburg 11-yard line. A few plays later with the final second about to run off the clock, Anders ran it in for the score to tie the game. 

“We put ourselves in these types of situations at practice,” Anderson said about the late score. “We felt we had a great play call there at the end that was going to score and it came through there at the end.”

But the Trailblazers still needed the extra point to complete the improbable victory and advance to the semifinals. With his team depending on him, Garza felt the pressure as he lined up for the biggest extra point of his career. 

“I was very nervous,” Garza said. “It’s happened before where I missed it. It’s painful but I just had to come up from it.”

But his nerves meant nothing as he nailed his kick to win the game. Along with sending his team to the semifinals, Garza’s kick ended the season for the Vikings. As his team finished the year with a 7-5 record, Kingsburg head coach David Wilson was proud of what they accomplished despite the disappointing ending.

“We’ve been playing really good football. Tonight, we played really well but it was just a couple bad moments,” Wilson said. “I’m proud of the boys. They left it out on the field and that’s all I can ask for.”

With their last-second win, the Trailblazers extended their current winning streak to 10 straight games to improve to 10-1. As they head to the semifinals, the Trailblazers will next face the Central Valley Christian Cavaliers. With a spot in the Central Valley title game on the line, Anders knows that he and his teammates will have to be ready to go from the opening kickoff. 

“We’re going to work our butts off next week. I promise you that,” Anders said. “CVC is a good team. They’re going to come ready and we just have to work hard.”

The No. 3 seed CVC Cavaliers advanced to the Division II Central Section semifinals after defeating No. 6 seed San Luis Obispo 21-14 in the quarterfinals. The Trailblazers and the Cavaliers were not the lone Tulare County schools to advance in the postseason this past Friday. In Division III, No. 1 seed Porterville won 35-0 against cross-town rival and No. 8 seed Monache. In Division VI, No. 3 seed Lindsay defended its home turf with a 24-13 win over No. 11 seed Riverdale.

Other local teams were not so fortunate. In Division V, No. 3 seed Strathmore lost 36-18 at home against No. 6 seed Delano. In Division VI, No. 7 seed Granite Hills lost 46-29 on the road against No. 2 seed Corcoran.