CYPRESS – What a way to break in the new digs. The first game for Cypress on its new football field was one for the ages.
Matt Rodriguez’s 4-yard touchdown catch with 32.2 seconds remaining lifted the Centurions to a 21-20 victory over Brea Olinda.
“We were not going to lose this game on our home field,” said the Centurions’ Mekaih Felix, who caught six passes for 74 yards including a 25-yard touchdown.
“We’ve had this place since last year,” Rodriguez said. “It’s beautiful. We really love it.”
It could have been a place for nightmares. The Wildcats (1-1), who drubbed Sonora 47-0 the previous week, finally pulled ahead 20-13 on Kolotulu Liti’s second TD, a 1-yard run with, 6:58 remaining, then forced a punt with 6:51 left.
Cypress got the ball back with 2:02 left when Alden Anthony and Ashton Washington stopped Liti for a 1-yard loss on fourth-and-1 at the Cypress 43. Xavier Guerrero hit on four of his next five passes, the biggest a 5-yard completion to Rodriguez on fourth-and-3 to the Brea 29.
“The internal pressure was just everything,” Rodriguez said.
“You got coaches in your ear, your teammates are telling you things, the fans are making noise,” Felix said. “But in our huddle, we’ve got teammates to stay poised and just play our game.”
Two plays later, Felix made a diving catch at the 4, but Guerrero never saw it, as a hit put him out of the game.
Justin Hall had replaced Guerrero by design in the second quarter, Cypress coach Rick Feldman said, but the switch was out of necessity in the closing seconds.
Hall was up to the challenge. After a frustrating incompletion to Felix on second-and-goal from the 4, he sprinted right and found Rodriguez in the front corner of the end zone for the touchdown with 32.2 seconds remaining, and the conversion sealed the win.
It was a stunning night for both defenses. Cypress gave up 157 yards on the ground, led by Brea quarterback Gavyn Nicholson with 90 yards on 18 carries. Most of that, though, was because he was unable to throw the ball. Nicholson, on the run all night, completed 4 of 10 passes for 14 yards.
Brea was even more stubborn with its run defense, as the Centurions were held to minus-7 yards rushing.
Its game plan apparently included being very physical with Felix, who caught five passes for 74 yards despite being blanketed and harassed by cornerback Jaxon Simmons all night. Simmons was called for two pass interference penalties, and the Centurions’ coaches were clamoring for more.
“I feel like the battle was tough on both sides of the ball,” Felix said.
“I thought their defense and front seven were giving us a lot of problems, and we thought Mekaih was being held on every play,” Feldman said. “But both of their corners are really good. But we couldn’t run the ball, so we thought that our best chance, just take our chances and throw the ball.”