Sultan defense rules in overtime victory

2021 EAST COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL

SANTANA 10, CORONADO 7 (OT)

EastCountySports.com staff report

CORONADO – Once Santana and Coronado figured out that they were supposed to play a tiebreaking overtime on Friday night, it didn’t take long for the Sultans to finish off the Islanders in a season opener that featured strong defense.

After the Sultan defense held the Islanders on the first possession of the extra period, Santana junior Jackson Scott eventually kicked a 23-yard field goal to win the game in the first overtime.

A scoreless game after three quarters, Coronado finally changed the scoreboard with a 22-yard touchdown pass with 8:21 left in the fourth period.

But the Sultans answered as if to say, “what took us so long,” as Dylan Anderson returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards by escaping an arm-tackle at the 35 that spun him around and appeared to propel him into another gear as Santana tied the game.

Santana’s Dylan Anderson goes up for the ball on Friday. / Ken Todd

Anderson also had an interception in the game, in which he returned 30 yards.

“Both Coronado and our offense would move the ball and then get stopped,” Santana head coach Tim Estes said. “Defense on both sides was pretty phenomenal. Coronado had some great tacklers who were very good at stuffing us.”

After a quick phone call to check on the overtime rules (we’re not kidding!), the Sultans won the toss and deferred in the college-style tiebreaker format with possession starting at the 25-yard line.

The Sultans sacked the Islanders on second down but Coronado nearly extended the drive on the next play, setting up a fourth-and-1 at the 16. However, a fourth-down attempt failed.

The Sultans drove down to just outside Coronado’s 5 and won the game on Scott’s left-footed boot.

“We hadn’t played in a tie game in a long time,” Estes said. “I had to call and check what the official rule was. They confirmed that, yes, we play into overtime.”

Santana’s Ethan Wright was thrust into the quarterback duties late due to an injury to the expected starter.

Santana managed 219 yards of total offense, including 157 of it from Wright, who completed 11-of-25 passes.

Junior Luke Nash rushed 15 times for 50 yards for Santana.

Jason Gonzalez caught three passes for 31 yards to lead the Sultan receivers. David Friedman also had three receptions, which went for 14 total yards.

Santana senior Logan Jorden recorded two sacks and had eight total tackles.

Santana and Coronado do battle on Friday night. / Ken Todd

“It felt great to win but it felt even better to close a game out like that,” Jorden said. “I am so proud of my boys knowing we to expect and we balled out. There’s no better feeling when you are able to count on others to make plays.”

Sultan senior Adler Osborn recorded five tackles.

Seniors Richard Santiago Jr. and Reese McDuffie both made four solo stops.

Senior return man Andrew Gomez has 67 yards, including an 18.5-yard average on a pair of punt runbacks.

“I was mad I couldn’t take my first kick all the way back,” said Gomez of a 29-yard kickoff return. “And I had a wide-open interception that I dropped in the fourth quarter but I’m ready to work and just keep getting better.”

The Islanders recorded three interceptions of their own.

Santana (1-0)....  0  0  0  7  3 -- 10
Coronado (0-1)..   0  0  0  7  0 --  7

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