Three first-half turnovers from Carpinteria turned into a 21-0 halftime lead for Templeton on Friday night, an advantage the Eagles ended up needing as they advanced past the Warriors 41-28 in the first round of the Northwest Division CIF playoff.
“They were great,” said Carpinteria head coach Ben Hallock of Templeton. “They certainly made the most of all their opportunuties in the first half and then later in the fourth quarter.”
Alex Elterman and Tobey Isbell hooked up for a pair of long touchdown receptions in that first half while Conner Truhitte did most of Templeton’s damage in the running game with three touchdowns.
“We got a pretty good trio of running backs that we haven’t needed to show yet,” said Templeton head coach Dan Loney.
Starting running back Matt Arace got banged up half way through the third quarter and Truhitte took on much of the load. Justin Alvarez picked up several carries.
Isbell’s scoring catches came on passes of 55 yards and 28 yards. The junior added one more catch to finish with 89 yards receiving. Both touchdowns came on deep post patterns. Isbell was close to hauling in a third TD on the same route.
“Yeah, it was working pretty well because the safety, he kept going down and it was open,” Isbell said.
Carpinteria (7-4) finishes its season having lost three straight games. The Warriors dug themselves into a hole in the first half with three turnovers, but made a game of it in the third quarter with a pair of touchdowns.
Touchdowns from Anthony Garcia and Alex Rodriguez brought Carpinteria to 21-14, and another TD from Jordan Robinson made it 28-21 with 6:25 remaining in the game.
A failed onsides kick gave Templeton good field position and the Eagles took advantage by increasing their lead again. A three-play drive quickly ended with Truhitte in the endzone for the third time.
“They shocked us a little bit,” Loney said about Carpinteria’s attempted comeback.
“Once we got over that shock and they decided, hey, this is us; it’s in our hands. It doesn’t matter what the coaches call, it’s how we execute. I think they realized that we needed to get out of that funk and take that step forward to that team we want to be.”
Rodriguez returned after missing two games with an injured knee. The senior saw only six carries in the game as he wasn’t completely 100 percent.
“It felt great that I could actually get out here, play with my brothers,” Rodriguez said. “I mean, it was sad that it had to end like this, but it felt good at least to be playing.”
Robinson came alive in the second half and really helped the Warriors move the chains. The senior receiver and cornerback caught five passes – all in the second half – for a total of 95 yards and a touchdown.
Ian Craddock didn’t complete a pass until the third quarter but finished 9-for-19 with 132 yards and two touchdowns. Craddock added a two-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Templeton’s Casey Dakin sealed the game with his interception return for a touchdown. Dain is 260-pound lineman who caught a tipped pass and rumbled into the endzone from 26 yards out.
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TEMPLETON 41, CARPINTERIA 28
1st QUARTER
2:51 – Isbell 55-yard catch from Elterman (Kick Good)
2nd QUARTER
9:06 – Truhitte 4-yard run (Kick Good)
0:58 – Isbell 28-yard catch from Elterman (Kick Good)
3rd QUARTER
7:45 – Garcia 9-yards from Craddock (Kick Good)
4:37 – Rodriguez 5-yard run (Kick Good)
4th QUARTER
10:12 – Truhitte 3-yard run (Kick Good)
6:25 – Robinson 14-yard catch from Craddock (Kick good)
5:24 – Truhitte 17-yard run (Kick failed)
4:59 – Dakin 26-yard interception return (Kick good)
2:47 – Craddock 2-yard run (Kick good)
