Defense saves Bulldogs in win over Desert Oasis

Clinging to a 9-6 lead late in the third quarter, Centennial appeared to be in trouble in its Sunset Region quarterfinal game Thursday at Desert Oasis.

The Bulldogs had fumbled away the ball on a bad snap on a punt attempt and Angelo Bianco recovered on the Bulldogs 40.

But Centennial’s defense, which had been stingy all night, came up big again.

The Bulldogs stopped the ensuing Desert Oasis drive on downs at the 27. Two plays later, Jacob Owens raced 48 yards to the end zone to push Centennial’s lead to 16-6 with 1:32 left in the third quarter, and the Bulldogs held on to down the Diamondbacks, 16-12.

Centennial (8-3) will play at Palo Verde in the Sunset semifinals at 7 p.m. on Nov. 19.

Desert Oasis (8-3) made it a one-score game on quarterback Trevon Barnes’ 55-yard touchdown run with 3:10 to play. Then after a three-and-out by the Bulldogs, the Diamondbacks got the ball back on their 28 with 1:55 left.

But the Centennial defense held the Diamondbacks to 7 yards on the drive, clinching the win when Barnes’ fourth-down pass fell incomplete with 30 seconds left.

Junior linebacker Jerod Cody, who led the Bulldogs with nine tackles, said the Diamondbacks’ offensive plan of attack was surprising.

“They were trying it right up the middle of our defense, but we didn’t allow them to,” he said. “That surprised me. I’m the middle linebacker, and I’m not gonna let that happen.”

The Bulldogs’ defense came up with a pair of turnovers that set up both of Centennial’s first-half scores.

Christopher Johnson recovered a fumble that led to a field goal, and Taj Cole’s 39-yard interception return set up quarterback Cody Clark’s 1-yard TD plunge on fourth down that put Centennial up 9-6 at the half.

The Bulldogs also had to overcome a nightmarish game on special teams.

First, Desert Oasis’ biggest play of the first half came on its own shanked punt.

Tyler Vazquez attempted to punt for the Diamondbacks from the 47, but the ball went off the side of his foot and straight up.

The ball bounced behind the line of scrimmage and into Vazquez’s hands again, and he scampered 45 yards through Centennial’s confused special teams unit to the Bulldogs 8.

Three plays later, Barnes scored on a 1-yard run to give Desert Oasis the lead, 6-3.

Centennial also had a punt blocked by Blanco, an extra point blocked by Kyle Henry and lost the fumble on the third-quarter punt attempt.

But Desert Oasis could not overcome the Bulldogs’ defense to take advantage of the miscues.

Centennial did not have an easy time against the Diamondbacks’ defense either. Centennial was held to 49 yards in the first half and 199 for the game.

But Owens, who rushed for 104 yards, provided the big play that proved to be the difference.

“For the most part it was just me breaking though the linebackers,” Owens said of his touchdown run. “Once I got through the linebackers it was done. That’s all we work on in practice. Grind them down, grind them down, then we break one.”

Henry had 11 tackles, including two for loss, to lead the Desert Oasis’ defense.

Centennial now gets a rematch with Palo Verde, which defeated the Bulldogs 21-0 on Sept. 16.

Owens said Centennial will be ready.

“We owe some revenge to them,” he said. “This week of practice is going to be a really good one. Because we are coming for Palo.”