Kaiser opponent’s decision: go for the tie or win?

Last week, Kaiser settled for a 15-15 tie with Downey Warren, but not by its own choice.
Here’s the situation as told to me from Kaiser coach Phil Zelaya:

Warren scored the game’s first touchdown and went for 2 to go up 8-0. Kaiser answered and also went for 2 to tie the score, 8-8.

Then Kaiser scored again, this time kicked the extra point to go up 15-8. Warren answered right back and quickly went down the field to score a touchdown with about 25 seconds left.

“It looked like they were going to go for 2,” Zelaya said.

It was big Warren crowd, a “White Out” night for the fans and coach Raul Lara, the former coach at Long Beach Poly decided to kick the extra point. It was successful and the game finished in the tie although Kaiser nearly had a chance to win in the final seconds.

Some preseason games have overtime, by mutual agreement from coaches, but most do not. Coaches want to play 48 minutes, but don’t see the need to play extra time, risking injury, in a game that likely has no bearing on whether or not they make the playoffs.

So what would Zelaya have done?

“I would’ve gone for 2,” he said.

Yes, a tie is better than a loss. But don’t you want your team to see you’re willing to go for it? I would’ve gone for the win, too.

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Local Football Roundup for Week 0

BONITA 49, SCHURR 2
Tanner East completed 15 of 23 passes for 174 and two touchdowns as Bonita rolled over visiting Schurr in the nonleague game. East connected with nine different Bearcats before sitting out the second half. Both Brandon Bradshaw and Romeo Gutierrez each found the end zone twice on the ground. Schurr was led by Anthony Varela who rushed 18 times for 67 yards.  
CHAFFEY 35, LAKESIDE 6
The Tigers running back Michael Dean rushed for four TDs and over 200 yards against Lakeside. Jovanni Sanchez also caught a touchdown for the Tigers.
COLONY 28, WEST COVINA 21 
Jiaire Wade scored his fourth touchdown of the game with 1:54 to play to rally reigning CIF Southern Section Central Division champion Colony in the nonleague game. Wade scored all four of Colony’s touchdowns. He rushed for 105 yards on 24 carries. He also scored a two-point PAT. West Covina took a 21-20 lead with 6:15 left in the game. Mike Gomez scored from the 8 and J.D. Algandar broke the tie with the successful extra-point attempt. West Covina turned the ball over five times.
 
SAN BERNARDINO 44, ARROYO VALLEY 14
The Cardinals running back Alexander Mattison scored six touchdowns on 13 carries for 313 yards in victory over the Hawks in the season opener. The Cardinals quarterback Demondre King rushed for 88 yards on seven carries while A’caunti Morris contributed with a 41-yard scoop-and-score touchdown. The Cardinals (1-0) will play at 7 p.m. Friday against Riverside Hillcrest.
 
UPLAND 49, KNIGHT 6
Head coach Tim Salter collected his 200th victory.
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Participation in high school football rises for the first time in five years

Perhaps due to strides in concussion awareness, high school football saw an increase in participation nationwide last season for the first time in five years, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.

An additional 6,607 boys participated in 11-man football during the 2013-14 season, making the total number of players in the country 1,093,234. Aiding that number was an additional 184 girls playing high school football, bringing the total number of girls to 1,715 nationwide.

Technology continues to improve the safety measures of football equipment and tangible progress in preventing concussions also includes a recently approved assembly bill in California limiting full contact high school football practices to three hours per week. AB 2129 will take effect on Jan. 1, 2015.

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Prep football playoff prediction: CIF-SS Inland Division

First Round
No. 1 Vista Murrieta over West Covina South Hills
Norco over Redlands East Valley
Rancho Cucamonga over Corona Santiago
Temecula Chaparral over No. 4 Covina Charter Oak
No. 3 Upland over Temecula Great Oak
Chino Hills over Redlands
Eisenhower over Murrieta Valley
No. 2 Corona Centennial over Los Osos

Quarterfinals
No. 1 Vista Murrieta over Norco
Rancho Cucamonga over Temecula Chaparral
No. 3 Upland over Chino Hills
No. 2 Corona Centennial over Eisenhower

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CIF-SS football playoff brackets released: Summit and OCHS earn No. 1 seeds, Carter No. 2, Upland No. 3

INLAND DIVISION
West Covina South Hills (6-4) at No. 1 Vista Murrieta (10-0)
Norco (6-4) at Redlands East Valley (5-4)
Corona Santiago (5-4) at Rancho Cucamonga (8-2)
Chaparral (7-3) at No. 4 Covina Charter Oak (9-1)
Temecula Great Oak (5-5) at No. 3 Upland (10-0)
Redlands (7-3) at Chino Hills (7-2-1)
Eisenhower (7-2) at Murrieta Valley (9-1)
Los Osos (5-5) at No. 2 Corona Centennial (9-1)

CENTRAL DIVISION
Paloma Valley (7-3) at No. 1 Summit (9-1)
La Quinta (4-6) at Colony (6-4)
Colton (7-3) at Elsinore (7-3)
Chaffey (5-5) at No. 4 Rancho Verde (7-3)
Riverside North (6-4) at No. 3 Kaiser (9-1)
Temescal Canyon (5-5) at Palm Springs (8-2)
Arlington (6-4) at Chino (8-2)
Palm Desert (3-7) at No. 2 Heritage (9-1)

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