OROSI – With the Orosi Cardinals and the Woodlake Tigers tangled atop the East Sequoia League, getting a huge statement victory in the final weeks of the regular season had to happen for the Cardinals.
Unfortunately, the Cardinals made the wrong kind of statement, as three costly first-half turnovers gave the Tigers what they needed to hunt down and drag away a surprising 31-22 victory at George Millhorn Stadium on Oct. 24. With the loss, Orosi (6-3/4-2) watched their chance to vie for the ESL Title fly away.
As for Woodlake (8-1/5-1), their shot at repeating as league co-champs, or claiming it for themselves, remains alive.
“We had to play our A game, and we played our D or F game in the first half, “ said Orosi head coach Ben White. “In the first half, we came out flat, gave them three turnovers. We just got down too much and couldn’t come back.”
Before Orosi could get in any kind of rhythm, Woodlake had already taken a 14-0 lead with an offense that caused a flurry of confusion both on the ground and in the air.
The Cardinals’ defense was caught off guard by the Tigers’ big plays in the air and on the ground. Woodlake quarterback Aldo Rodriguez and wide receiver Memo Rosales wreaked havoc with their big plays downfield. And Jose Rodriguez kept the chains moving with the ball in his hands.
“That was our game plan, to try to contain him, and we didn’t do a good job of that,” said White. “They got the win because of that; their quarterback is a good quarterback.”
Rodriguez finished an efficient 10-13 for 174 yards passing and 2 touchdowns. And Rosales grabbed one of those scores to go along with 5 catches for 131 yards.
Orosi scored all of their points in the second half, with 14 of them coming in less than two minutes, highlighted by a pick-six of Rodriguez by junior defensive end James Beltran that had the home crowd finally rocking.
Cardinals’ star running back Jason De La Cruz provided the highlight reel moments, grinding out 118 yards rushing on 18 carries and 1 touchdown.
But in the end, the Cardinals’ valiant comeback attempt came up too short.
“In the second half, we played a lot better, but still, they’re (Woodlake) a good football team,” said White. “We just got down too much, and we couldn’t come back. We came out flat.”
Orosi will have to put this game in their rear-view mirror and hunker down for the final week of the regular season. While they lost out on a shot at playing for the ESL title, there’s still a lot left to play for, and plenty more statements left to make.
“We just made so many mistakes tonight. We just can’t do that to beat a good football team,” said White. “Our focus is just getting ready for our next game, Orange Cove, and we’re guaranteed in the playoffs.”
The Cardinals will host the Titans in the regular season finale on Oct. 30.
