Underdog teams win all three HSFB100 battles

There were three contests on Friday night that featured HSFB100 teams battling one another and in each contest the lower ranked program came away with the victory.

No. 19 Mountain Pointe (Phoenix, AZ) defeated No. 18 Chandler (AZ), 45-42.

No. 43 Centennial (Corona, CA) upended No. 29 Poly (Long Beach, CA), 42-34.

No. 63 Warren Central (Indianapolis, IN) edged No. 61 Ben Davis (Indianapolis, IN), 28-21.

All six teams will stay inside the national rankings when they are updated on Monday but each will (obviously) flip places with its opponent.

Here is a recap of each contest:

No. 19 Mountain Pointe gains 531 yards rushing to down No. 18 Chandler

Behind the best offensive line in the state or Arizona it was Paul Lucas and Brandyn Leonard who combined for 525 of the teams 542 yards rushing in the 45-42 victory.

Often overlooked the credit for the performance goes to Davis Perrott, De’Shaun Felder, Colin Lambdin, Clayton Dry, and Nick Carman who opened lanes all evening and made it easy for the two backs to gain yards in clumps.

Of all of his long runs it was the last four yards that Lucas gained which mattered the most.

With the game entering its final minutes Mountain Pointe faced a 4th down and 3 from the Chandler 34 the back lowered his shoulders and plowed through two defenders to gain the needed distance.

Mountain Pointe was nearly able to kill the clock after earning a new set of downs but were forced to stop Chandler on one last attempt with 20 seconds left and did so to secure the victory.

Pride coach Norris Vaughan was not too happy in celebrating career victory No. 236.

“We got some resiliency and toughness,” he told the East Valley Tribune. “Defensively, we are lot of better than we showed tonight, but have some work to do.

“We showed a lot of courage and lot of fight.”

Mountain Pointe improved to 5-0 and will play on the road against another state power and HSFB100 member, Hamilton (Chandler, AZ).

Chandler fell to 3-1 but still has quality wins over Centennial (Peoria, AZ) and Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch, CO) on its resume. It will play Cesar Chavez (Laveen, AZ) next week but has a circled date with Hamilton on Oct. 3.

Young Husky team growing up fast in victory over Poly

Corona Centennial was a team full of pups when it fell 38-18 to Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) on Aug. 30. After running with the big dogs of Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, NV) last weekend the Husky players were ready to lead the way against Poly.

Centennial jumped out to a 21-0 lead — extended it to 42-20 into the fourth quarter — and held on to a 42-34 decision.

It was the first true test for new Poly coach and former NY Giant plays, Antonio Pierce.

The Jackrabbits opened with wins over Crenshaw (Los Angeles, CA), Narbonne (Harbor City, CA), and HSFB100 member Westlake (Westlake Village, CA) but none had the talent to match his team like Centennial did.

Poly was penalized nine times for 75 yards in the first half. It lost a touchdown due to a block in the back. It also threw two interceptions.

Pierce told GazetteSports.com that he liked the attitude his team showed after the game.

“I saw a lot of guys with their hands up saying ‘My fault,’ and I like that,” he said. “I’ll be the first to say it—that’s on me. I didn’t put you guys in a position to win.”

The two teams will continue to be ranked in the HSFB100 come Monday with both teams likely staying inside the Top 50.

Poly plays at Cabrillo (Long Beach, CA) to open Moore League play next week. It figures to go unbeaten through league play and enter the PAC5 playoffs with the lone loss to Centennial.

Centennial is off this coming week before taking on Valencia (CA) in its last non-league game. The Huskies also figure to go into the playoffs with just the current two losses on the resume. It could face a test from a usually pesky Norco (CA) team that also took on a tough slate of games in non-league games.

Warren Central continues to win close contests versus Ben Davis

Warren Central has opened the season 5-0 and won its last seven games to close 2013 with a state title. Of those 12 victories, eight have come by a touchdown or less.

Winning close has become the norm as has winning ugly.

The Warriors committed 13 penalties but capitalized on four turnovers and a couple big plays to earn the victory.

Entering halftime the teams were tied at 14 and locked in the battle that many expected.

Ben Davis struck first in the second half with a 67-yard score to take a 21-14 lead.

Warren Central counterpunched on its next possession with a 61-yard run deep in the the Giants territory. Four plays later safety-turned-quarterback Mykelti Williams punched in a rushing score.

Williams was again put in at quarterback as the game wound down with Warren Central inside the Ben Davis 10. On third-and-5 from the 7, he carried the ball for four yards. On the next play he punched it in for the touchdown on fourth down setting the final margin at 28-21.

Wilmer Cole intercepted his second pass of the game on the ensuing Ben Davis possession as the team secured the victory.

Williams told Kyle Neddenriep (follow on Twitter) of the IndyStar that the team works hard and the close victories are not lucky outcomes.

“I feel like we’ve prepared ourselves in practice for these situations,” Williams said. “We don’t panic or anything. There’s no big highs or big lows, we just keep grinding and grinding. The good outweighs the bad if you play that way.”

The two Indianapolis powers will likely stay relatively close in the HSFB100 and probably remain outside of the Top 50.

Warren Central has another tough game with Pike (Indianapolis, IN) next week and then closes the regular season with HSFB100 foes Carmel (IN) and St. Xavier (Cincinnati, OH).

Ben Davis still has Carmel on its slate but the majority of its regular season tests have already been played.

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