Santa Rosa stays unbeaten with comeback victory, 30-12

Santa Rosa Academy quarterback Daniel Gonzales finds some running room. (Photo by Rick Rowell)

By Paige Mendez, Correspondent

The Rangers of Santa Rosa Academy continued their undefeated season Friday night with a 30-12 home win against the Desert Christian Academy Conquerors.

After starting without their regular quarterback and with two lost fumbles on their two first-half possessions, it didn’t look like the game would go the Rangers’ way. The Conquerors capitalized on both Ranger fumbles with touchdowns from Cannon Espinoza and Dakota Young, the second happening in just two quick plays.

That would be the last time Desert Christian put points on the board for the night, however. Santa Rosa answered on the next drive with Tyler Baxter taking over as quarterback and accounting for 22 rushing yards to bring in the touchdown.

Baxter was one of three Rangers who played quarterback on the night as part of a new offensive scheme the coaching staff employed to work around injured starter Justin York. Ethan Parslow and Daniel Gonzales were the other two quarterbacks for Santa Rosa and they were each given their own unique play cards in order to have plenty of options when it came to scoring, according to the coaches.

After a rocky first quarter, the options started working for the Rangers. Starting with Baxter’s touchdown and continuing with a well-timed forced turnover on downs by their defense, Santa Rosa had momentum on their side when Baxter was back in the pocket at first and goal. He initially fumbled the snap on this play, then not only recovered the ball but ran it in for a touchdown. He topped that with a two-point conversion to put his team up 14-12 with a lead for the first time in the game around the six-minute mark of the second quarter.

The Ranger defense brought their team another scoring opportunity with a forced punt after Kaden Maxwell-Garcia sacked the Desert Christian quarterback. Gonzales and Baxter then traded off plays to steadily work up the field to another touchdown and two-point conversion, making it 22-12 for the Rangers.

Gonzales, who put up 76 first-half rushing yards and 173 on the night, said his new role was scary for him coming into the game.

“I was very nervous; I was in a fog,” said Gonzales. “But after a few snaps and just reading the blocks, I got to set the tone and it felt good.”

Baxter, who put up 55 yards on the night, had one of the most influential plays, according to his coaches, on the defensive side of the game just before halftime.

On third and seven from the other 24-yard line, Desert Christian’s Jesse Snellenberger threw a long pass to Young, who caught it and ran for what most would assume to be a touchdown. Baxter trailed him down the field and got a tackle within inches of the goal line, however, and put his defense at the 1-yard line for first and goal, which they held and pushed back yard by yard until the clock ran out for the first half.

“That hustle play right there explains our team,” said defensive coordinator Peter Arballo. “It gives us a chance, then we do a goal-line stand, which I thought was a turning point in the game.”

After that stop, with momentum going into the second half, the defense forced two punts and made an interception by the means of Nick Welty in the end zone to keep Desert Christian scoreless in the second half.

The last Ranger touchdown came from Gonzales again in two quick plays, making the final score 30-12. He said the defense made the difference for the team in a game that could have been really difficult with so many variables with a new offense.

“The defense was amazing. It was so cool to see them put their heart into every play,” Gonzales said. “Although we may have a lot of injuries, we’re not going to give up. We may not be the biggest team, but we still have the biggest heart.”

Santa Rosa Academy will look to keep the streak going with a matchup in Pasadena against Maranatha next Friday at 7 p.m.

Nick Welty returns an interception during Santa Rosa Academy's comeback. (Photo by Rick Rowell)

 Tyler Baxter takes advantage of some room to run during Friday night's game. (Photo by Rick Rowell)

 Rangers defender Ricky Mendoza hangs on to make a tackle during Friday's game. (Photo by Rick Rowell)