MORENO VALLEY, CA – Picking a hero in Palm Desert’s unexpected 19-12 win over previously unbeaten Moreno Valley on Nov. 20 might be a difficult task.
There were too many nominees to select just one. Plenty of heroics took place in the Aztecs’ striking victory in which Palm Desert (8-4) earned a shot in a Nov. 27 semifinals game against division heavyweight Serrano-Phelan.
Palm Desert’s heroes?
It could’ve been defensive tackle Will Emmett, whose inside play included a safety when he tackled Vikings’ RB Kenneth Metcalf early in the second quarter for a 2-0 lead.
There was monstrous play from Aztecs’ RB Beau Berryhill, who came up with 113 yards (25 carries) against a quick-striking Mo Val defense.
Tight end-linebacker-placekicker Tommy Jacobsson struck a field goal, two extra points, snagged a pair of important passes and came up with three key defensive stops against hopeful Mo Val plays.
Mo Val (11-1) had a pair of thousand-yard RBs – B.I. Wayfer and Dre Hall – but defenders like Joe Caridi, Jacobsson, Brooks Stephenson, Anthony Fabela, Emmett, Richard Armada, Denton Anderson, plus Berryhill all conspired to wrap up the Vikings’ biggest threats.
But the play everyone will remember is QB Brian Devlin’s pass that found Dakota Romero with 2:10 remaining, score tied 12-12. Romero outjumped Jacob Hogue on the pass in a one-on-one duel.
When Romero came down with the ball, he outran the Vikings’ secondary to the end zone, cracking that deadlock.
This was a game seemingly headed for overtime.
It was almost miraculous that Devlin could even launch the pass. He was being harassed by a trio of Mo Val defenders, led by Andre Phillips – who came up with the game’s only turnover, a deflected interception earlier – who seemed to have trapped Devlin.
Not only did Devlin get the pass away, but it arched down in Romero’s direction. There were only two sets of hands that could’ve brought it in – Romero or Hogue.It seemed likely the ball would fall incomplete. Hogue had momentary position for an interception. Romero overcame that handicap to bring in the pass. Hogue fell toward the turf. Romero snagged the ball, hauled it in and headed toward the end zone. Hogue tried hard to recover, but Romero had disappeared.
That was the play a couple hundred travelers from the Coachella Valley community would remember most.
There was emotion in Emmett’s voice, breaking away from a postgame interview, saying, “My coach (Patrick Blackburn) will be furious with me if I’m not with the team right now.”
In the immediate afterglow of this win, all that “team” thing came down to was showering water over Blackburn – 11-22 between 2012-2014, all playoff seasons – in celebration.
“We did,” Emmett said again, perhaps in tribute to Blackburn & staff, “what we were coached to do.”
Which was: Block for Berryhill, protect for Devlin and tackle Mo Val’s biggest offensive threats.
More heroics: Stephenson had single coverage on Anderson, a big-play receiver (25 receptions, 711 yards, 9 TDs), who caught 6 more passes for 81 yards. But Stephenson defended against six other deep attempts that went incomplete.
Part of that was discipline. “We’ve really been hit by penalties the past few games. Tonight, they had twice as many (95-to-40) as we did.”
Emmett said Palm Desert was in all the right places in stopping the Vikings.
“They stacked up as the better team,” said Emmett, “but we hit harder in this game than we have all season. I think it came down to that.”
If that’s what Palm Desert was coached to do, then it came out right.
The Aztecs (8-4), a Desert Valley League powerhouse, stacked up the Vikings’ high-powered offense, holding Mo Val to 265 total yards.
Palm Desert held a 9-0 halftime lead – Emmett’s safety on Metcalf and Devlin’s 4-yard run.
But the Vikings, held to 45 total yards in the opening half, got a 44-yard TD run from Wayfer on their first series after the intermission and Jacobsson countered with a 27-yard field goal for a 12-6 lead.
Mo Val seemed poised to erupt, especially after David Anderson saved TDs on back-to-back plays – Tristen Sinkenson’s 53-yard kickoff return and on a following 30-yard run from Berryhill, limiting the Aztecs to Jacobsson’s field goal.
Hall rambled 76 yards with 8:03 left, tying the score at 12-12.
Mo Val, which doesn’t kick PATs, failed on both of their post-TD scores – both runs out of the Wildcat scheme.
So when Phillips came up with a deflected interception off Devlin with 7:08 left, it seemed Mo Val had complete momentum. Palm Desert defended on the Vikings’ series, setting up the winning play.
Mo Val hadn’t had a close game all season. Its 36-12 playoff win over Apple Valley one week earlier was, by far, the closest.
“They’re a scary team on paper,” said Emmett, “but we’ve been coming off some good wins. This was another good one.”
Throw this in: Prior to the season, Mo Val’s All-County linebacker, Kevin Meitzenheimer, outright predicted the Vikings would win the Southern Section’s Eastern Division championship.
“I don’t think we can win state,” he said in August, “but we’ll win the CIF.”
The Vikings came three wins short of his prediction.
Said Emmett: “We did what we were coached to do.”
SOME SHOCKERS, SOME EXPECTED OUTCOMES: No more than 10 miles away from the Mo Val-Palm Desert showdown, Rancho Verde-Moreno Valley ended defending state champion Redlands East Valley’s hopes for a second straight title, 28-24, over the Wildcats.
Jeff Steinberg, who had previous coaching experience against REV during his days in the Citrus Belt League while at A.B. Miller-Fontana, is concluding his first season as Mustangs’ coach.
Rancho Verde’s win sets up another showdown between area rivals, Citrus Hill-Perris (20-16 over Redlands in the final minute) and Rancho Verde, in a first for this region. The Hawks and Mustangs, who have split a pair of non-league duels in 2014-2015, will finally meet in a playoff setting.
Cajon-San Bernardino, co-CBL champion alongside REV, will last into the Inland Division semifinals after a 24-13 win over San Jacinto.
The division’s top seed, Heritage-Menifee, whipped Yucaipa to get a showdown with Cajon next week.
No surprise that Centennial-Corona stopped Orange Lutheran (Pac-5 Division).
Vista Murrieta’s West Valley Division win over Upland was standard play for the Broncos.
Speaking of the West Valley Division: San Bernardino County power Chino Hills will take on Riverside County stalwart Vista Murrieta in a semifinal showdown.
It came close to Palm Desert, La Quinta and defending Eastern Division champion Palm Springs reaching this year’s semifinals. Palm Springs lost, however, to Oak Hills-Hesperia.
Small school stuff: Aquinas-San Bernardino, which barely racked up a Southern Section playoff berth, have scored back-to-back playoff victories, thus earning a shot in the semifinals against Ambassador League rival Notre Dame-Riverside on Nov. 27. On Nov. 6, Notre Dame beat the Falcons, 28-6.
It leaves all three Ambassador League teams in contention, counting Linfield Christian-Temecula, which takes on Twentynine Palms in the other semifinal.
There are hopes for at least a handful of Southern Section champions from the Inland Empire region.
