The Matilda Torres Toros football team answered a Madera South score in the third quarter, and held off two long Stallions’ drives over the next 17 minutes to secure a 21-14 Rodeo Bowl victory.
Madera South had two chances to tie the score in the second half against Torres, but the Toros’ defense was bend, but not break to hold on Friday night. Torres has won four of the five Rodeo Bowl meetings.
Torres’ rushing game almost out gained the Madera South offense. Lead running back Caden Warden carried 23 times for 198 yards, including a 62-yard touchdown. His back-up, Angel De La Sancha, broke off a 49-yard run, and scored a touchdown. The Toros gained 260 yards on the ground against Madera South’s 265 total yards.
The Stallions had six different ball carriers tote the ball 48 times for 180 yards with a touchdown. Quarterback John Ledesma threw for 85 yards and a score.
Diego Reyna Navarro carried 18 times for 62 yards, and a score while Ledesma called his own number 16 times for 83 yards.
The Stallions opened the game with a drive into Torres territory, but had to punt.
Three plays later, Ledesma picked off a Torres pass to set the Stallions up at the Torres 20.
Reyna Navarro and Ledesma carried for 10 yards. An offisdes call gave Madera South a first down. Three plays later, Reyna Navarro scored from two yards out, and Michael Cuevas hit the extra point for a 7-0 lead with three minutes left in the first.
The Toros answered right back. Joseph Pasillas carried for eight, and Warden gained 11 on third-and-two.
From the Madera South 43, Nathaniel Pichardo found an open Jordan Garcia up the middle. Garcia blew past his defender on a seam route from the slot for a 43-yard touchdown catch. The point after was missed, and Madera South led, 7-6, with 1:28 left in the first quarter.
After Madera South turned the ball over on downs, Torres took the ball inside the Stallions’ 30. Elijah Chavez read the Torres middle screen, and picked off Pichardo to stop the drive.
Ledesma ran for six for an initial first down, but the Stallions punted at midfield.
The Toros got a 15-yard run from Warden and Pichardo hit Darryn Garcia for 14 yards to get into Stallions’ territory. Warden gained eight, and then found running room to the left. He went behind the blocks of Alfredo Diaz, Joseph Razo and Pasillas for a 34-yard gain.
However, Torres mishandled the hand-off two plays later, and Madera South’s Charles Moore came up with the recovery.
The Stallions started a drive with 3:51 left in the half. Ledesma and Reyna Navarro gained 18 yards. Ledesma hit Cuevas for eight yards, and a first down. Ledesma carried for 10 to the Torres 39.
Two Ledesma runs moved the ball to the Torres 28. Two incomplete passes ended the half.
Torres opened the second half with the ball at its 38. Warden got the ball up the middle, and went behind a Ramon Espinoza block to find running room. Warden outran the defense down the right sideline for a 62-yard run. Hector Diaz’s kick was good for a 13-7 lead, just 17 seconds into the half.
The Stallions came right back. After George Roberts carried for four on third-and-three, the Stallions moved the ball into Torres territory.
Ledesma threw a quick tight end pop pass to A.J. Alvarez, who got behind the Torres defense. Alvarez carried the ball the final 33 yards into the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown after Cuevas hit the extra point for a 14-13 Madera South lead.
Warden got the call four straight times for 12 yards to open the next Torres drive. De La Sancha came in relief of Warden, and found running room behind Razo and Richard Galindo for a 49-yard gain around the left side. De La Sancha was given a chance to finish what he started, and scored from two-yards out to give the Toros the lead.
Pasillas scored on an end around for the two-point conversion, and a 21-14 Torres lead with 5:06 left in the third quarter.
The Stallions went on a seven minute drive that didn’t lead to any points. Roberts, Ledesma and Reyna Navarro moved the ball to the Torres 26. However, two Madera South penalties forced the Stallions to a third-and-26. A Ledesma pass to Cuevas gained eight, but the fourth down pass fell incomplete, and the 14-play drive didn’t result in points.
The Toros faced a third-and-two, but a bad snap forced De La Sancha to cover the ball for a loss of four. Then, a bad snap to the punter forced a punt for a loss of four at the Torres 44.
Reyna Navarro gained six and Ledesma found Jonathan Buendia for 12 yards to the 32. Reyna Navarro, behind block from Cuevas and Alvarez, gained 11 to the 21.
After a tackle for loss, Ledesma scrambled twice for eight yards. On fourth-and-six, Alfredo Diaz provided the Torres pressure, and Ledesma threw incomplete to turn the ball over with 3:23 left in the game.
The Toros turned to their closer, Warden. He carried five straight times for 26 yards, and two first downs before Pichardo took two knees with 1:12 left in the game to preserve the Torres win.