As improbable as it was that La Puente Bishop Amat drove 80 yards in the game’s final 44 seconds, it was equally improbable it would miss an extra point to claim a one-point victory over Chino Hills.
Both happened.
The nonleague game between two Inland Empire powers ended in a 48-48 tie as both coaches elected prior to the game not to play overtime in the event of a tie.
After Chino Hills completed its second 14-point comeback of the game, the Huskies took the lead on Louis Napoles’ fourth touchdown run of the night with 44 ticks left on the clock. But the extra point was blocked to leave the Huskies’ lead at 48-42, which seemed safe at the time.
But on fourth-and-10 from the Chino Hills 39-yard line on Bishop Amat’s final possession, the Huskies committed a pass interference penalty that landed the Lancers at the Huskies 5-yard line with 12 seconds to play. Two plays later, Bishop Amat scored on a 3-yard pass to Darren Andrews, but its extra point attempt appeared to be deflected at the line of scrimmage and sailed well below the crossbar.
Will Lester/Staff Photographer
Chino Hills quarterback Matt Simko (above) completed 21 of 35 passes for 363 yards Friday night against Bishop Amat.
The shootout between two teams, whose records are an identical 1-0-1, produced plenty of eye-popping statistics. Chino Hills quarterback Matt Simko completed 21 of 35 passes for 363 yards and a touchdown. His 49-yard bomb to Jospeh Lara, who finished with eight receptions for 148 yards, set up the Huskies final touchdown.
Napoles, who had 100 yards in the first half, finished with 129 on 22 carries with four touchdowns.
Bishop Amat quarterback Koa Haynes was 21-of-30 passing for 282 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Lancers’ running game carried by Dionza Blue, who finished with 128 yards on 16 carries. The Lancers rushed for 240 yards.
Blue scored the Lancers’ first three touchdowns as they raced out to a 21-7 lead. Bishop Amat produced touchdowns with each of its first three possessions, answering an impressive Chino Hills scoring drive as Blue amassed 65 rushing yards and a touchdown on the Lancers’ first possession.
Bishop Amat took advantage of a 21-yard field following a 40-yard punt return by Darren Andrews before a 42-yard reverse by Joseph Cook set up Blue’s third score in as many Lancer possessions for a 21-7 lead with 9:42 remaining in the first half.
After a turnover on downs just on the edge of field goal range its previous possession, Chino Hills converted a fourth-and-1 with a quarterback sneak before Simko followed his offensive line into the end zone on the next play to cut the deficit to 21-13. The Huskies took advantage of good field position to tie the game as Napoles asserted himself with a 3-yard touchdown run at the 2:24 mark of the second quarter to finish a drive extended by a Bishop Amat pass interference penalty. Simko’s two-point conversion pass to Connor Wilson made up for an errant extra point attempt to tie the game, 21-21.
The Lancers scored via a Blue 2-yard run with just 17 seconds left in the half after Andrews’ 35-yard catch on third down keyed the drive, then extended their lead to 35-21 on a touchdown catch by Joseph Cook with 4:01 left in the third quarter.
But Chino Hills erased its second two-touchdown deficit of the night in less than four minutes by driving 83 yards for the first touchdown before Jack Austin’s 47-yard catch tied the game, 35-35, on the final play of the third quarter.
Just when it appeared Chino Hills had lost a crucial chance to tie the game with a turnover on downs at the Bishop Amat 37-yard line, the Huskies’ Thomas Zorilla pilfered an interception over the middle on the next play to set up the go-ahead touchdown by Chino Hills with 5:25 remaining in the game.
