Special teams spark No. 8 Desert Oasis in victory over Coronado — PHOTOS
Coronado and Desert Oasis were tied midway through the fourth quarter Friday night, and neither team seemed able to gather momentum.
Until the Diamondbacks’ Ethan Estrada and Damarvion Bailey teamed up for a truly special play on special teams.
Estrada came off the edge and blocked a Coronado punt, and Bailey pounced on the loose ball in the end zone, and No. 8 Desert Oasis tacked on two more scores en route to a 32-14 home victory.
“I just shot up, shot off the edge, and that tackle didn’t look at me for nothing,” Estrada said. “It was just perfect. The personal protector, the tackle, they crashed down. I just came off free and just laid out and got it.”
Desert Oasis coach Matt Rosdahl said the team wasn’t going for the block on the play, instead hoping for a big return after the Cougars’ drive stalled at their own 16-yard line.
“Luckily, we were able to pin them back. We actually didn’t even have a block on on that punt,” Rosdahl said. “We had a return on. But we were able to get some penetration. He got his hands up. Big play. Big moment. A huge swing.”
After special teams gave the Diamondbacks (3-2, 1-0 5A Lake League) a 20-14 lead with 5:35 to go, the team’s running backs put the game away.
Kyair Thomas took a screen pass from Vincent Hales on third-and-11 and raced 73 yards for a touchdown to push the lead to 26-14 with 3:08 to go.
Desert Oasis got the ball back with 2:14 to play and handed the ball to Giovanni Brown three times looking to run clock. But on the third carry, Brown found a hole and sprinted 48 yards for a touchdown for the final margin.
“That screen play to kind of break it open was huge,” Rosdahl said. “And then we’re just trying to run clock and Gio was able to bust that one for the last touchdown, just kind of salted it away. It made it a lot less stressful for us, not having to worry about getting a stop.”
Coronado (1-4, 0-1) finished with 284 yards, but much of that total came on two plays: a 57-yard pass from Jackson Humphries to Landon Sanford and a 74-yard TD run by Jayden Davis.
Outside of those plays, the Cougars didn’t manage much against the Diamondbacks, who had seven tackles for loss, a sack and two interceptions.
“Our defense has been playing lights out all season,” Rosdahl said. “You go back and look, we’re not giving up a lot of points. And when we do, it’s a little mistake here and they bust a big play.
“I think if we really went and looked, most of the touchdowns we’re giving up have been like 50-plus (yards). Teams aren’t driving against us. Our defense has just been tremendous all season.”
Brown finished with 92 yards on 13 carries, and Thomas added 59 yards on seven rushes.
Hales completed 20 of 28 passes for 244 yards and three TDs. He started strong, completing his first nine passes, including eight on the team’s opening drive.
In addition to the big screen pass to Thomas, he added a 5-yard TD strike to Andrew Richmond and a 17-yard scoring pass to Malachi Dunlap.
Dunlap had eight catches for 67 yards for Desert Oasis.
“It’s just a great confidence booster for our guys coming up with the new divisions and new leagues to come out and beat a team that has been successful and is successful,” Rosdahl said. “We came out and showed everybody that we can play with the other teams in 5A.”
Estrada agreed.
“This is everything,” Estrada said. “This is the base of a great team and a great win streak.”