Football:
Story by John Honell
It was a comeback for the ages.
The Northview High School football program trailed Colony by 17 points in the second half of Saturday’s CIF-State Division-4A Southern California Regional in Ontario.
The Vikings rallied and defeated the Titans, 27-26, by outscoring their hosts 20-6 in the second half.
The game was a matchup between the Vikings, the CIF-SS Division 10 champions, and the Titans, who claimed the CIF-SS Division 9 title last weekend.
Northview coach, and 1998 NHS graduate, Marcel Perez, got a Gatorade bath on his way to accept the trophy for the first regional championship in Northview High School history.
The Vikings found themselves down 26-7 after the Titans Bryce Strong returned the second half kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown.
“Our guys never quit,” Perez said. “They knew they would get some stops and they kept their head in it. They made some huge plays offensively and we’re regional champs because of it.”
Ronal Tebo, Jr., tied the score on his fourth TD of the game with 26 seconds left on the clock.
Jospeh Gutierrez calmly added the extra-point attempt to seal the victory.
When Steve Carlin broke up a last-ditch fourth-down pass by A.J. Jones with four seconds left, the celebration began.
“We put our heads down a little after that kickoff return,” Tebo said. “That’s just human nature, but we just kept playing and came out on top. Thank God, I was praying for this in the middle of the game and we made it happen. The start of our season was rough, but we never quit. This whole team has heart.”
The Vikings scored first on a 7-yard TD run by Tebo, at the 3:28 mark of the first quarter.
The score capped a 10-play, 96-yard drive to put the Vikings ahead 7-0.
The big play on the drive was a 41-yard run by Cheo Medina to move the Vikings into Titans territory for the first time in the game.
Medina rushed for 155 yards on 31 carries, as the Vikings workhorse just pounded the ball against the bigger, faster Titans.
“That’s what we do right now,” Medina said. “They couldn’t stop us, so we just keep doing it. They got a little momentum in the first half, but we came back and got it fixed in the second half.”
The Titans scored the next four touchdowns, including a pair in the last 2:46 of the first half.
Colony quarterback, A.J. Jones, who has signed as a wide receiver with the University of Arizona, got loose around the left side and took the ball 80 yards for a TD.
The successful point-after attempt gave the Titans a 13-7 lead with 2:46 left in the half.
Colony scored on the first play of their next possession when Jones found Jamari Johnson on a screen pass that went 64 yards for the score, and it increased the Titans lead to 20-7.
“When you try and dictate on defense, sometimes you give up big plays,” Perez said. “It happens.”
The Vikings final drive began on their own 25-yard line with 5:59 remaining in the game.
NHS turned the ball over to Tebo and Medina for the most part, but on a huge fourth-down play, the Vikings quarterback, James Arellanes, found Erik Saiz for just enough to give the Vikings a first down and more life.
NHS handed Colony its first loss in 51 days, and ended the Titans season in the process.
Up next: Northview will travel to San Francisco and face Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep on Saturday at Kezar Stadium.
The Fighting Irish (7-7) defeated Chico, 31-7, in their Northern California Regional.
The kickoff is slated for 6
Box Score:
N: 7-0-6-14-(27)
C: 20-0-6-0-(26)
Records: Northview (9-6); Colony (8-7)
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