Last second field goal ends Norwalk’s football season
Norwalk’s Jonathan Goodloe (6) reacts as they lose to Woodbridge in their CIF first round football game at Norwalk High School on Friday. Woodbridge defeated Norwalk 24-21. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
NORWALK – With a late lead in the CIF-Southern Section Division 12 playoffs, a heartbreaking last second field goal ended the season for the Norwalk Lancers in a first-round game Friday (Nov. 5) at Norwalk High.
Norwalk had a 21-13 lead with five minutes to play in the game. Woodbridge scored a touchdown, a two-point conversion and a 19-yard field goal by Daniel Goodrich with 11 seconds left to defeat the Lancers.
With the win, Woodbridge (4-7) will play Rosemead (6-5), a 28-7 winner over Rancho Alamitos, in a second-round game.
Norwalk ends its season at 6-5.
“The game didn’t go the way we thought it would,” Norwalk first-year coach Ruben Guerrero said. “It didn’t go according to plan. That’s a pretty good little football team (Woodbridge) over there.
“When we started on a roll, they had some answers for things that we were doing. We stymied our own offense with the penalties. Our offense was moving backwards rather than forwards like it usually does.”
A big missing link to the Norwalk offense was running back David Herrera.
The junior, who had rushed for 1,312 yards and scored 19 touchdowns this season, didn’t play in the last league game and Friday’s playoff game.
It was a huge loss for the team, as he had been averaging 9.8 yards per carry, 145 yards per game and rushed for over 100 yards in eight of his nine games played.
Senior running back Jonathan Goodloe led the Lancers with17 carries for 139 yards and touchdown runs of seven, four and 33 yards.
Woodbridge was led by sophomore quarterback Edward Ma completing 20 of 23 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown.
“I’m happy that we went further than everybody said we could go,” Goodloe said. “We met the expectations that nobody else thought we were going to make. So, that’s a good thing for us.
“As for the game, I knew we were going to have to stop their best player on the team. They didn’t stop me, but defensively we didn’t stop them.”
Goodloe gave the Lancers the first lead of the game, 7-0, with a 7-yard run early in the first quarter.
Norwalk’s Jonathan Goodloe (6) tries for a last play run as they play Woodbridge players in their CIF first round football game at Norwalk High School on Friday. Woodbridge defeated Norwalk 24-21. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
Woodbridge, on its first drive of the game, answered with a touchdown to tie the game, 7-7, with 2:18 left in the opening quarter.
Highlighting the touchdown drive was a 12-yard pass from Ma to wide receiver Jackson Trerotola to the 20-yard line. Junior running back Feiamma Armstrong capped the drive off with a four-yard run to the right corner, going in virtually untouched for the score.
Norwalk took its second lead of the game, 14-7 with a long five-minute drive that ended early in the second quarter.
Goodloe scored his second touchdown of the half with a 4-yard run with 9:01 left in the half.
The back-and-forth half saw Woodbridge score on a 19-yard pass to Trerotola. They failed to tie it after a missed extra point.
Norwalk, which hadn’t been in the playoffs since 2017, held on to a one-point, 14-13 tie at the half.
Early in the fourth quarter, Norwalk took its third lead of the game, 21-13, on Goodloe’s third touchdown of the game with a 33-yard run.
The fourth quarter comeback began by the Warriors with a 17-yard touchdown run by Ma. On the play, Ma scrambled and found an opening and ran in for the score.
Ma threw a 2-point conversion pass to Trerotola to tie the game at 21-21 with 5:16 left in the fourth quarter.
Highlighting the drive was a fourth-down conversion of seven yards to Trerotola at midfield for the Warriors.
Norwalk was trying to take its fourth lead of the game on its ensuing possession, but penalties forced the Lancers to punt near midfield with less than two minutes remaining.
“We held on to the ball, we were driving the ball, we were very positive and many, many times we were running the ball, but the penalties killed us,” Guerrero said. “When our offense moves backwards, it doesn’t work as well as it should. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot a few times.”
On the final game-winning drive by Woodbridge, another crucial penalty hurt the Lancers again.
Highlighting the drive was a 32-yard pass from Ma to junior wide receiver Dereck Moore, ending up deep in the Lancers territory at the seven-yard line. That eventually led to the winning field goal.
Asked about the successful season the Lancers just concluded, Guerrero said, “As seniors, they put some things on the field (Friday) and they showed some things that we haven’t seen with Norwalk football in a while.
“That’s positive and they set the table for the future players and they set a very high bar that we’re going to try and reach now.”
La Mirada 35, Golden Valley 29
After an up and down season, the Matadores are on a roll at the right time, as they came away with the win and advanced to the second round of the CIF Division 7 playoffs.
La Mirada, which had a three-game winning streak early in the season and then a three-game losing streak, has now won four straight.
The Matadores (7-4) will host Pasadena (9-2), a 50-13 winner over Thousand Oaks, at Excelsior High tonight (Nov. 12).
“It was a great game,” said La Mirada coach Mike Moschetti, of the back-and-forth game. “The games they remember are played in November and December.
“Each week is a season of its own. You wait to win the week. We’re playing well right now.”
La Mirada had a tough preseason schedule, which included a loss to the Nation’s top team, Mater Dei.
“The reason why we play teams like Mater Dei, is just for games like Pasadena this Friday,” added Moschetti, on the second-round game.
Leading the way for the Matadores was senior running back Eddie Lafferre with 157 yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns, while senior Jacob Black (6 carries, 40 yds.) ran for two scores.
Junior wide receiver Xavier Hicks caught 12 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown.
Junior quarterback Nehuel Garcia (16 for 27, 2 Int.) threw for 142 yards and a touchdown.
Trailing, 15-13, at the half, Golden Valley (4-6) extended the lead to 22-13 with a pick six early in the third quarter.
The Matadores came back with two consecutive TDs on runs by Lafferre for 17 and two yards for the 28-22 lead.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Golden Valley retook the lead, 29-28, on a touchdown pass from quarterback Jaxson Miner to receiver Ajani Smith. Smith caught three touchdown passes in the game.
La Mirada failed to convert on its next possession and Golden Valley then drove down to the Matadores 7-yard line. On fourth and seven, the La Mirada defense stopped the Grizzlies.
The final series for La Mirada was reminiscent of Denver’s John Elway “The drive” to tie and eventually beat Cleveland in the AFC Championship in 1986.
However, the “drive” took over five minutes, going 98 yards and La Mirada’s drive was only 90 seconds to win the game.
La Mirada, led by Garcia, drove the ball 90 yards, culminating with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Hicks for the 35-29 lead, with 22 seconds left in the game.
Hicks highlighted the drive with a clutch 13-yard catch on fourth and 10 near midfield and caught six passes.
“Hicks was out the last two weeks, missing the Norwalk and Bellflower games with a high ankle sprain,” Moschetti said. “He was such a competitor on the last drive. He and Garcia made plays when plays had to be made.”
Upland 24, St. Paul 13
St. Paul, which had a six-game winning streak to begin the season, finishes with an 8-3 record.
Upland took a 17-0 lead in the first half and led 24-7 in the second half and never looked back. Upland advanced to the second round and will play Long Beach Poly in a Division 4 game tonight (Nov. 12).