ANAHEIM – Pioneer took advantage of Anaheim’s tendency to over-pursue, breaking off two long plays for touchdowns by Jose Rojas, in a 14-6 victory in the CIF Southern Section Division 14 semifinals Friday at Glover Stadium.
The Titans (7-6) will face South El Monte next week in the championship game.
“We have a very aggressive defense, and really, all they got us on were two big screens,” Anaheim coach Gus Martinez said. “We went over it all week, but we just couldn’t get it done. All in all, we did pretty well except for those big plays.”
The first big play came a little more than a minute into the second half. The Titans had a scant 21 yards of total offense and one first down when things finally clicked.
Quarterback Noah Anderson took advantage of Anaheim’s aggressive defensive pressure by flipping a pass out to Rojas in the left flat, and he accelerated past Anaheim’s defense for a 58-yard score.
Rojas’ two scores accounted for nearly half of Pioneer’s total offense.
With the Titans holding a tenuous 7-6 lead, Joaquin Angelo Lobato took a handoff from Anderson on a sweep to the right, then flipped the ball to Rojas sweeping to the left. He caught the pursuit heading the wrong direction and got around the corner for 49-yard TD run with 2:40 left in the game.
Anaheim’s last gasp ended when Anderson – who passed for 83 yards and ran for 62 – was intercepted for the second time, by Rojas, with 1:54 remaining.
Anaheim (7-6) broke up the scoreless duel after a short punt with a personal foul after the play set it up at the Pioneer 29.
Jacob Campos, who was the point of the spear in the running attack on a handful of designed quarterback runs, rushed four times for 12 yards and completed two passes to Xavier Aviles for another 15 yards, which set up Isaac Anaya’s 4-yard touchdown run with 5:15 left in the first half.
Campos was held to half his per-game average yards passing, but it was a challenging night. He completed 13 of 26 passes, and Anaheim was plagued by a half-dozen dropped balls.
“I feel like we missed some opportunities when we were in the red zone,” Martinez said.
On their first three possessions, Campos was incomplete on fourth down in Pioneer territory, he was intercepted at the 2-yard line, then their 26-yard field goal attempt was wide right.
After forcing four turnovers in its quarterfinal game, Anaheim was able force just one, a recovered fumble which led nowhere.
“We just weren’t able to get any turnovers,” Martinez said. “But our defense played really well. They just got us on those two big plays.”