Calls go against Santa Rosa Academy in 7-6 loss

Santa Rosa defenders Kaden Maxwell-Garcia (65) and Nick Welty (52) team up for a tackle. (Photo by Rick Rowell)

 By Paige Mendez, Correspondent

The Santa Rosa Academy football team lost a 7-6 decision to Capistrano Valley Christian Academy on Saturday night in a game head coach Perry Jones said was “their win taken by the officials.”

After a scoreless first half -- during which the Ranger defense kept Capistrano out of the red zone all but once and forced a turnover at the 5-yard line in that drive -- both teams were looking to get on the board.

The visiting Eagles did that within the first four minutes of the second half with a seven-play drive into the end zone.

On the next Ranger possession, they pushed the ball from their own 34 to the Eagles 12-yard line and quarterback Daniel Marlow ran it into the end zone. But after deliberation, the officials ruled there had been an inadvertent whistle at the snap, negating the touchdown and requiring a replay of that down.

Two plays later, running back Braylon Taylor ran the ball into the end zone but it was called back because of an illegal block in the back on Santa Rosa.

Jones said at least one of those two touchdowns, in his opinion, should have counted.

“We scored twice in that drive. The result was that an inadvertent whistle was the difference between us winning and losing,” said Jones. “We scored twice on that drive and that is just out of our control.”

After the two end zone runs happened, the Rangers didn’t convert the next down and turned it over. But just three plays into the next Capistrano possession, Jack Warren intercepted a throw and put his team right back on offense.

The Rangers only gained 4 net yards on that drive, however, and the Eagles took over, only to punt it seven plays later, thanks to the Rangers defense. Austin Craven, in particular, helped on that forced turnover with a near-interception that kept Capistrano from a third-down conversion.

With just five minutes or so remaining, the Rangers needed a touchdown in order to stay in the game.

A big catch from Sy Reed for a third-down conversion gave them momentum moving through the next drive steadily with an average of 5 yards per play on the next 7 plays. On the last play, Marlow ran into the end zone for the first Santa Rosa touchdown of the night with just over three minutes left on the clock.

The Rangers decided to go for the two-point conversion and Marlow got the ball over the line, but the officials ruled that his knee was down before he pushed the ball into the end zone.

The Ranger defense still had another forced turnover in them and got it from Capistrano within the next minute, in a forced punt. But the offense couldn’t capitalize by that time and it was turned over in four short plays, giving Capistrano the ball to out down the clock and take the victory.

Jones, however, said the victory — as he sees it — belongs to his team.

Senior Wyatt Spykstra agrees.

“We know we won, but on MaxPreps it doesn’t say that, so we really have to show the school that we’re better than that,” said Spykstra. “It was good that we kept the score this close.”

Marlow took the blame for the loss.

“I think it happens in football; we can’t blame it on those two plays,” said Marlow. “We should have put up more points as an offense, I didn’t execute to the best of my ability.”

But Marlow added that the defense was executing just fine.

Capistrano Valley Christian averaged 34 points a game before the matchup with Santa Rosa. Keeping them to just seven points is something Marlow and Spykstra said their defense should be proud of.

“Their run was basically shut down; the defense was the heart of the team here,” said Spykstra.

“Our defense played better than I could have imagined,” added Marlow. “They work their butts off and this game showed that.”

Reed and his teammates left the field feeling like they have something to prove, but very little to be disappointed in after the game.

“We gave everything we had. Everyone did what they were supposed to do,” Reed said of his and his team’s performance. “We had a really good game—one of our best games ever played.”

Rangers running back Braylon Taylor picks up yardage Saturday night. (Photo by Rick Rowell)

 Wyatt Spykstra hits full stride as he avoids a defensive player in Saturday's game. (Photo by Rick Rowell)

Wyatt Spykstra shined on defense as well in the Rangers' tough loss. (Photo by Rick Rowell)