Morgan Hill – The Pee Wee Raiders of Morgan Hill narrowly
defeated the Palo Alto Knights Saturday at Britton Middle School
using the momentum from a second quarter interception and turning
it into an an 85-yard drive.
Morgan Hill – The Pee Wee Raiders of Morgan Hill narrowly defeated the Palo Alto Knights Saturday at Britton Middle School using the momentum from a second quarter interception and turning it into an an 85-yard drive.
In a very even game the Raiders and the Knights posted nearly identical yards, first downs and time of possession, and both teams even had one turn over a piece.
The difference in the game was that Morgan Hill turned the Palo Alto turnover into six points.
After a back and forth first quarter that resulted in no points, the Knights opened the second quarter at the Raiders 28-yard line.
On a second and nine, Palo Alto threw a pass and Morgan Hill’s Joe Rodriguez stepped in and picked it off.
With a long field in front of them, the Raiders drove from their own 15-yard line 85 yards for the only score of the game.
Linemen Brandon Duran, Jacob Le Don and Josh Araiza continued to rip open holes on the right side of the line, allowing for long runs around the right end by Trevor Bearden and Drew Glines.
On one of Glines’ 11 carries he was dragged down short of the goal at the one-yard line.
Quarterback Taylor Turnipseed then followed center PJ Maharhens into the end zone on the sneak for the touchdown.
To start the second half, the Raiders held Palo Alto to three plays and out, but were pinned at their own six-yard line after a long punt by the Knights.
The Raiders used an 11 play, six minute drive to devour time off the clock and get the ball down to the Knights 24-yard line before turning it over on downs.
Kyle Quadros was the workhorse of the drive, this time running left behind linemen Willie Long and Dalton Craig, and gaining 43 yards of the Raiders’ 66-yard drive.
In the fourth quarter the Knights made it interesting with a two minute drill that stressed out the Raiders defense.
In the end the 45 yards the Knights gained were still 40 yards short of the goal, and the tired Raider defense, which had been fast and swarming all day, outlasted the Knights.
The Raiders’ defense was lead by Tayvry Carrasco and Paul Salinas-Ruiz, who came up with big stops at different points in the game.
Daniel Ginther and Kyle Quadros each had one sack in the game.
Jarrod Cerniglia had two solo tackles and assisted on six others.
