The Bishop Diego defense stepped up in dramatic fashion on Friday night, pulling off a goal-line stand to end visiting Santa Fe Christian’s final drive and solidify a 20-16 win in a thriller for the ages.
Cardinals head coach Tom Crawford had spent the practice week telling his players that the game would be closely contested.
“We had been telling our kids all week long that this was going to be a 4th quarter game,” he said.
Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened.
Despite surrendering 282 combined rushing yards, the Cardinals dropped the anchor when it really mattered. With less than two minutes remaining in the game and Bishop Diego clinging to its four-point lead, the Cardinals defense stuffed three straight Santa Fe runs before forcing a final incomplete fourth-down desperation pass and sealing the victory in front of a frenzied crowd.
The game started with Santa Fe Christian striking first, as quarterback Carter Roberts raced 70 yards off an option play before finally being dragged down at the Bishop Diego 16-yard line. Roberts’ run set up an Eagles field goal to go up 3-0.
Bishop Diego didn’t take long to answer back. The Cardinals executed an 80-yard, two and a half minute drive that was capped off by a 4-yard touchdown run by Abel Gonzalez. The score gave the Cardinals a 7-3 lead with 2:33 left in the first quarter. Gonzalez finished the game with 67 yards and a touchdown.
Santa Fe Christian came right back with an 80-yard drive of its own, which chewed up nearly eight minutes of clock time. The Eagles and their triple-option attack ran 16 plays to march down the field, with 15 of them being on the ground. Another touchdown by Roberts from two yards out put Santa Fe up 10-7 midway through the second quarter.
Any hopes of the Bishop Diego responding were dashed, as the Cardinals fumbled on the 20-yard line after the ensuing kickoff. Santa Fe did not hesitate to capitalize, kicking a field goal to make it 13-7 with 4:20 left in the second quarter.
Including the fumble, Bishop Diego only had four possessions in the entire first half.
The Eagles added another field goal right before halftime with an impressive 49-yard attempt to extend the lead to 16-7.
The drama of the second half began with Bishop Diego finally being able to contain Roberts.
Crawford pointed to discipline being the decisive factor.
“Their quarterback was doing such a fine job of pulling the ball out and keeping it, and we got a little desperate and lost some of our assignments,” he said.
Roberts, who rushed for 98 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone, was held to just 26 yards after halftime.
Santa Fe Christian head coach Jon Wallace had nothing but praise for his quarterback’s tough performance.
“He’s a fantastic kid,” Wallace said. “He takes a lot of hits, but he always gets back up.”
Roberts finished the game with 124 yards and a score.
The Cardinals made another second-half adjustment by executing a pass-heavy drive to start the third quarter, ending it with a 34-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Spencer Stovesand to Alexis Herrera. The score got the Cardinals within 16-14 at end the third quarter.
The Cardinals scored again with 5:52 left on the clock to go ahead 20-16, this time on a three-yard run by running back Daniel Molina. After a failed two-point conversion, it was up to the Bishop Diego defense to preserve the lead.
A 30-yard rumble by Santa Fe running back Benton Weeks off an option pitch moved the Eagles to the Bishop Diego 35-yard line. Four plays later, the Eagles found themselves on the Cardinals’ 10-yard line, with less than two minutes left in the game.
That’s when the Bishop defense made its last stand.
Crawford saw the game as a good measuring stick for the rest of the season.
“It was a dog fight,” the coach remarked. “It’s always going to be a great test for us to play a team that’s this disciplined.”
Bishop Diego travels to Pasadena next week for a showdown against La Salle.
