Bryson Frazer runs behind the block of Carpinteria lineman Oscar Mejia during Friday’s CIF Northwest Division quarterfinal game against El Segundo. (John Dvorak photo)
In a football game full of big plays, El Segundo made a couple more than Carpinteria and escaped with a 45-31 shootout win over the host Warriors Friday night in a CIF Northwest Division quarterfinal.
The biggest play of the night was a 96-yard kickoff return by El Segundo’s talented Jamie Stewart. It turned out to be the backbreaker for Carpinteria because it came right after the Warriors marched 67 yards and tied the score at 31-31 on a 9-yard run by quarterback Ian Craddock with 1:06 left in the third quarter.
Craddock kicked the ball deep to Stewart, who slipped a ?tackler and found an open lane up the left sideline to the other end of the field. Stewart also kicked the PAT to put the Eagles ahead 38-31.
“Jamie, he’s a phenomenal player; y0u have to respect him every single play of the game,” El Segundo coach Steve Shevlin said. “He has the opportunity to score every time he handles the ball.”
Asked about Stewart’s kickoff return, Carpinteria coach Ben Hallock said, “That was tough. Unfortunately, that’s one of the teams I coach, so I got to own that. I take responsibility for that.”
But it wasn’t just the kickoff return that hurt the Warriors. El Segundo got big plays from other players, too.
“Their big guys came up big in the second half and made all the plays, the plays they needed to make,” Hallock said.
Receiver Nick Karsseboom came up huge on several plays for the Eagles. His biggest was a 54-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Lars Nootbaar on a third-and-31 play.
“Nick and Lars had a great game,” Shevlin said. “It worked out really well for us.”
On a night when the defenses on both sides took a beating, El Segundo’s stepped up and forced Carpinteria to punt with the score at 38-31. ?Nootbaar then put the ball ?back in the hands Stewart. He made a spectacular catch, falling backwards while hauling in a 37-yard pass at the Carpinteria 3. Two plays later, Shaman Moore scored from 2 yards, giving the Eagles a two touchdown advantage, 45-31, with 6:32 left in the game.
The way this game was going, that seemed like plenty of time for Carpinteria to stage a comeback. Craddock’s running got the Warriors down to the El Segundo 18. But the Eagles’ defense came up big again and stopped Carpinteria on downs with 3:17 go.
“I was scared to death of their offense,” Shevlin said of Carpinteria. “Ian is a special quarterback. He made me very nervous.”
In the end, it was the running of Stewart that kept the ball in El Segundo’s hands. He ran for?a first down on a fake punt, and the Eagles were able to run out the clock and end Carpinteria’s season at 8-4. The fourth-seeded Eagles (9-3) move on to a semifinal game against top-seeded Oak Park.
“We had a great season. It was wonderful,” Hallock said. “We did all kinds of really fine stuff and our guys were really classy through the whole season. I was really proud of them. I’m thankful they brought me along with them. It’s been fun.”
For the fans, Friday’s game was fun to watch.
It started with both teams kicking field goals: ?Craddock nailed a 46-yarder and Stewart followed with a field goal from 32 yards.
Peter Ramos of Carpinteria runs through a hole opened up by the offensive line.
Then both teams lost a fumble. Carpinteria would capitalize on El Segundo’s turnover at the 10. It marched 90 yards and scored on a 10-yard run by Peter Ramos.
The 10-3 lead didn’t last long as El Segundo countered with an 80-yard drive. The big play was a
54-yard touchdown pass from Nootbaar to Karsseboom on a third and 31.
Carpinteria answered with another long drive to retake the lead, 17-10. The Warriors marched 83 yards, capped by a 3-yard touchdown run by Ramos.
The Warriors were doing a good job containing Stewart in the first half, but Karsseboom burned them with some big catches. He picked up 46 yards on a pass over the middle and caught a 4-yard TD toss from Nootbaar to tie the score at 17-17 before halftime.
El Segundo took the lead on its first possession of the second half. Nootbaar kept the ball and ran 8 yards for the go-ahead score, 24-17.
“He got a whole lot of yards and most of his yards are on scrambles. That’s what they’ve been doing all year long. They’re a tough team to stop,” said Hallock.
But Carpinteria also has some players who are difficult to stop.
Bryson Frazer thrilled the crowd with an electrifying 63-yard run. He swept left, bounced off tacklers, cut back to the right and motored into the end zone to tie the score at 24-all.
“He’s capable of making a play on any down,” said Hallock of his speedy running back.
Nootbaar and Karsseboom lowered the boom again on Carpinteria. They hooked up on a 68-yard scoring play to put the Eagles ahead 31-24.
“We just didn’t come through with the plays in the second half,” Hallock said. “We needed to stay score for score,”
