ONTARIO – The two football teams met on Thursday night at Chaffee High School, with just three wins on the field, but with a playoff at stake.
One team clearly looked ready for the playoffs, while the other stayed to lick their wounds and, most likely, looked forward to the next season.
A.J. Jones ran for a touchdown, caught a touchdown pass and intercepted the ball in defense when Coloni defeated Los Osos 35-0 in a Citrus 4 League game.
The win gives Colony (4-6 overall, including no penalty loss, 2-1 league) second in the league and an automatic playoff spot in the southern section of the CIF. Los Osos dropped to 1-8, 1-2.
“That’s good,” Colony coach Brian Zavala said after being doused with cold water after the victory. “It’s better than the alternative.” We have to clean up some things and be more effective. We called off two or three landings over penalties, but we fought hard. “
Jones is Arizona’s senior player as wide receiver but was forced to act as quarterback when senior starter Will Yates suffered a back injury.
“He’s a kid who’s willing to do whatever it takes for the team,” Zavala said. “He is our best athlete and you can see what he is capable of on the field. He nearly threw a touchdown (it was canceled due to a penalty), ran one, caught one and intercepted. I don’t know if anyone did this at this school. “
After a touchdown by Bryce Strong (14 yards) and Jamari Johnson (10 yards), Jones, in the last minute of the first half, made a pass immediately after the pass. He looked head out-of-bounds, but instead turned into a 47-yard landing area.
“I was sure he was going out of bounds,” Zavala said. “But he saw what he was capable of.”
Strong added a 37-yard touchdown before Zavala put Jones on a long-range reception.
“We had the opportunity to do it last week, but we didn’t,” Zavala said. “So we were hoping to do it tonight.”
Ryan Vasquez made a pass to Jones on his only pass of the night, and he ran the rest of the way for a 38-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Jones also threw 159 yards in the game.
It was a long night for the Grizzlies, who lost three starting line-ups to injury during the game, including young quarterback Andrew Garcia (shoulder).
“We’ve had some good defensive games,” said Los Osos coach Alex Pearce. “But we couldn’t achieve anything in the attack. We had an open double pass, but we missed it. “
Los Osos had one pass in the game, in the first Grizzly series, and not the other. Los Osos have not had their first loss in their last six offensive streaks in the game. When senior Jordin Haley and sophomore Isaiah Moreno lined up for quarterback in the second half, the Grizzlies’ attack was more unsuccessful than successful.
“I thought it was a coin toss game,” Pierce said. “But we don’t have Power 5 guys like him (Jones). We just need to get back to work in the gym. “
This is an exciting time for the Colony as Zavala expects his team to be placed in the 9th or 10th divisions.
“I think we might have some success,” he said.
