OXNARD — So close, yet so far.
Bishop Diego trailed from start to finish Friday night, but did manage to tie the score on a couple different occasions in its nonleague game against Santa Paula only to ultimately come up short in a 28-21 loss at Hueneme High in Oxnard.
“This was a tough loss,’’ said coach Tom Crawford, whose Cardinals mounted a fourth quarter rally, nearly marching the length of the field over the final six-plus minutes of the game before the final drive stalled in Santa Paula territory.
Ivan Vigil recovered a fumble by Bishop Diego (0-4) and the offense for Santa Paula (2-1) took over possession at its own 38-yard line and successfully ran out the final 1:50 off the clock while Crawford & Co. watched from the sidelines.
“It’s discouraging,’’ Crawford said.
Most of the game was discouraging for Bishop Diego, particularly in the second half.
A costly mistake to open the third quarter proved too much to overcome. A Bishop Diego fumble led to a Kameron Klein 1-yard touchdown run, on a quarterback keeper, to give Santa Paula a comfortable 28-14 lead at the 9:48 mark.
To its credit, Bishop Diego refused to go away quietly. The Cardinals’ will was strong.
On Bishop Diego’s ensuing possession, Kyle Holland picked up a crucial first down at midfield on to keep the drive alive. Brandon Gonzalez followed with a 20-yard gain to move the ball to the Santa Paula 15-yard line.
Holland hit Vince Figueroa on a 7-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 28-21 with 7:06 left in the third quarter, but Bishop Diego didn’t get any closer.
“My hat is off to Tom Crawford and his kids, they played one heck of a game,’’ Santa Paula coach Teohua Sanchez said. “Crawford does a phenomenal job with those guys on the other side of the field. Tonight was no different.‘’
Santa Paula got on the board early in the game after Ivan Ledesma took a handoff from Klein on a misdirection play up the middle and broke free down the sideline, outrunning the defense en route to an 80-yard touchdown run to give the Cardinals a 7-0 lead with 11:44 left in the first quarter.
“I had some great blocking on that play,’’ Ledesma said. “I made my reads at the line of scrimmage and saw open field ahead of me, nothing but green grass. There was no way I was going to get caught from behind. No way.’’
Following an unsuccessful drive by Bishop Diego, Santa Paula took over at midfield and appeared to be heading for another score. Paul Garcia had other ideas though. The sophomore defense back for Bishop Diego back intercepted a Klein pass and returned it to midfield midway through the first quarter.
Bishop Diego failed to move the ball well when it got the ball back and was forced to punt. But the Cardinals did learn from their mistakes, and when they got another chance, the next time around, Bishop Diego made good on its opportunity.
Starting at the Santa Paula 30-yard line, Holland got things going for Bishop Diego and found Figueroa on a 7-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7 with :36 seconds left in the opening quarter. Bishop Diego was in business.
Klein did a little bit of everything for Santa Paula in the second quarter.
He found Steven Kohr and Ledesma on four consecutive pass plays. Then, the sophomore quarterback dove for a first down and a fourth and short play deep in Bishop Diego territory. The drive culminated with Klein’s 1-yard run plunge to make it a 14-7 lead with 6:22 left before halftime.
The opportunistic Bishop Diego struck again just before intermission. Klein was sacked, the ball came loose and Joe Saldana scooped up the miscue and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 14-14 with 3:36 left in the second quarter.
Santa Paula answered quickly. Moises Magana picked up 20 yards on a run and then Bishop Diego was flagged for a 15-yard penalty. On a 4th and four, Klein found Kohr on a 27-yard pass play and Magana capped the drive on a 3-yard run to give Santa Paula a 21-14 lead at halftime.
Bishop Diego was stunned and found it difficult to recover.
“Our guys put in a good effort,’’ Crawford said. “We’re getting better. There’s no quitters on this team. I like that about my guys. They played hard.’’
Holland finished 6 of 9 for 50 yards, but did complete all four of his passes in the second half. Gonzalez was a workhorse and ended up with 85 yards on 20 carries.
Klein was 10 of 17 for 117 yards. Magano had 72 yards on 13 carries. Ledesma rushed the ball eight times for 117 yards and had seven receptions for another 72 yards.
SANTA PAULA 28, BISHOP DIEGO 0
Bishop Diego 7 7 7 0—21
Santa Paula 7 14 7 0—28
First quarter
SP — Ledesma 80 run (Gomez kick), 11:44.
BD — Figueroa 7 pass from Holland (Morando kick), :36.
Second quarter
SP — Klein 1 run (Ortega kick), 6:22.
BD — Salda 32 fumble return (Morando kick), 3:36.
SP — Magana 7 run (Ortega kick), :14.
Third quarter
SP — Klein 1 run (Ortega kick), 9:48.
BD — Figueroa 7 pass from Holland (Morando kick), 7:06.
Fourth quarter
None.
BD SP
First downs 8 11
Rushes-yards 29-105 29-195
Passing yards 50 117
Comp-Att-Int 10-17-2 6-9-0
Sacked-yards lost 3-18 3-15
Punts-avg. 5-25.5 3-33.3
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 5-55 4-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — BD: Garcia 7-20, Holland 2-0, Gonzalez 20-85. SP: Ledesma 8-117, Klein 8-6, Magana 13-72.
PASSING — BD: Holland 6-9-0-50. SP: Klein 10-17-2-117.
RECEIVING — BD: Figueroa 3-24, Garcia 3-26. SP: Ledesma 7-76, Kohr 3-41.
MISSED FIELD GOALS — None
TEAM RECORDS — BD 0-4; SP 2-1.
