CIF Bowl D2: Servite silences the Thunder with late field goal

CARSON, Calif. - For the first time all weekend, the California Interscholastic Federation had a rout on its hands.

Servite High School jumped out to a 30-10 lead early in the second half against the Rocklin Thunder in the Division II state championship game and it looked like the Friars were going to continue to pull away.

Or not.

{VIDEO_3fdbbead-5861-4bc3-b857-ee3f7f8dd9e2,floatCenter}

Led by running back Jackson Cummings and backup quarterback Tiger Sorenson, the Thunder rallied to tie the game with three straight touchdowns and set up some tense final moments for both teams.

Servite looked to have its game back in order following Cummings’ 1-yard run with 8 minutes, 51 seconds remaining that tied the game at 30-30. Behind the play of quarterback Cody Fajardo, the Friars drove from their own 36 to the Rocklin 3-yard line with just over two minutes remaining. However Rocklin’s Scott Polaske forced a fumble by Servite running back Jody Thomas and Sean Moore recovered at the 1.

The elation on the Rocklin sideline was shortlived, however. On second down, Sorenson threw a pass deep down the middle of the field only to have Jordan Jones pick it off at the 27.

“We always try to put our kids in a position to win and that’s the play we thought would do so,” said Rocklin coach Greg Benzel. “I’d call the same play if I had to do it all over again.”

This time Servite used the clock and a penalty to its advantage. Four short runs and a horse collar penalty wound the clock down and put the Friars at the Rocklin 7 – well within range of kicker Nicholas Echeverry, who had already booted field goals of 47, 39 and 43 earlier in the game.

With just 2.1 seconds remaining, Echeverry booted the ball straight through the uprights for the 33-30 Servite win.

The narrow margin of victory marked the fourth straight close game at the CIF State Championship Bowl Games. Modesto Christian defeated Parker 44-40 in the Small Schools game and Oceanside defeated Bellarmine 24-19 in the Division I contest on Friday while Serra edged Marin Catholic 24-20 for the Division III crown in the early game Saturday at the Home Depot Center.

The three-point win marked the third time in the post season that the Friars (14-1) had won by three points or less.

“When you play in close games every week, you get used to it,” said Servite coach Troy Thomas. “We lost our composure there a little bit tonight, but we were still able to come out with the win.”

The loss ended a perfect season for Rocklin (14-1), which entered the game with a 14-0 record but still had one important loss – quarterback Jimmy Laughrea. The junior quarterback, who had thrown for 2,635 yards and 22 touchdowns during the year, suffered a broken arm in Rocklin’s Sac-Joaquin Section championship game win over Del Oro and was unable to suit up for the Servite game. In his place, Sorenson completed 15 of 30 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns.

“We’re torn up right now because we rallied from such a large deficit and came up short,” said Sorenson. “Our fans wouldn’t let us get down on ourselves. They kept us in and we couldn’t let them down. I don’t think we did.”

Sorenson figured heavily in Rocklin’s comeback. Following an Echeverry 43-yard field goal that gave Servite a 30-10 lead with 6:30 remaining in the third period, Sorenson rallied the Thunder with a 12-play, 80-yard drive that included six pass completions.

”It’s kind of crazy how it ended up – that I was the quarterback tonight,” said Sorenson. “Jimmy deserved to be the quarterback tonight. He led us here. I would have rather played receiver, frankly, but in football you have setbacks.”

The big play on the drive found Sorenson completing a 35-yard pass to Moore who took it to the Servite 11. On third down, Sorenson found tight end Holden Huff in the corner of the end zone for the 8-yard touchdown.

”We’ve shown so much heart all year so it didn’t surprise me we came back from that big deficit tonight,” said Huff, who had six catches for 100 yards.

The Rocklin defense immediately forced a punt and Cummings returned the kick 24 yards to the Thunder 46. Four plays later Cummings rambled into the end zone on a 17-yard run that cut Rocklin’s deficit to just seven points, 30-23, with 11:47 left in the game.

Cummings finished the night with 159 yards rushing on 29 carries and two scores. He ended the season with 2,406 yards rushing and 42 touchdowns.

The Servite offense continued to struggle on its ensuing possession and Rocklin took advantage. Starting at the Servite 48, Rocklin went the distance in five plays. Cummings did most of the damage, ripping off a 37-yard run and finally scoring on a 1-yard plunge. Andrew Hunters’ extra point with 8:51 tied the game at 30-30.

This time the Servite offense found its rhythm. Fajardo hit several short passes, including gains of 10 and 14 yards to tight end Ainslie Johnson. A 5-yard run by Fajardo set up the exchange of turnovers that eventually led to Echeverry’s gamewinning field goal.

“We got a little upset there at the end about all that was happening and we just started to pick it up again,” said Fajardo, who finished the season with 2,444 yards and 21 touchdowns. “This win puts a big exclamation point on my senior year.”

Fajardo led the Friars in rushing and passing as he gained 82 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown and completed 12 of 21 passes for 182 yards and a score.

Besides scoring Servite’s first touchdown early in the first quarter on a 1-yard run, Fajardo also connected with Rudy Guerrero on a 60-yard pass play midway through the second period to put Servite ahead 24-10.

Special teams also played an important role in Servite’s win. Besides Echeverry’s four field goals, the Friars also had a 55-yard punt return by Chris Nichols with 5:49 left in the first period to put Servite up 14-0.

Rocklin answered Nichols’ touchdown with an 8-play, 80-yard drive Sorenson culminated with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Huff. Servite and Rocklin traded field goals with Echeverry connecting from 47 yards out and Vincent Barrow hitting a 22-yard field goal for Rocklin.

Fajardo then hit Guerrero with the 60-yard bomb and Echeverry booted two more field goals to give Servite the 30-10 advantage and signal the Rocklin comeback.

“I’m going to tell the boys in the locker room that this game goes well beyond the scoreboard, that as far as I’m concerned the won,” said Benzel. “I couldn’t be more proud of them. To come back from whatever that deficit was reflects just who they are.”

Notes: Servite set several records in the win including: Longest Pass Completion – Cody Fajardo, 60; Longest Touchdown Pass – Fajardo, 60; Longest Reception – Rudy Guerrero, 60; Longest Touchdown Reception – Guerrero, 60; Most Rushing Attempts Team – 45; Most Rushing Attempts Both Teams – Servite & Rocklin, 75.

Servite 33, Rocklin 30

Servite 17 10 3 3 – 33
Rocklin 7 3 7 13 – 30

First Quarter
S – Fajardo 1 run (Echeverry kick), 8:19
S – Nicholls 55 punt return (Echeverry kick), 5:49
R – Huff 29 pass from Sorenson (Barrow kick), 2:44
S – Echeverry 47 FG, 0:53
Second Quarter
R – Barrow 22 FG, 9:23
S – Guerrero 60 pass from Fajardo (Echeverry kick), 7:14
S – Echeverry 39 FG, 0:00
Third Quarter
S – Echeverry 43 FG, 6:30
R – Huff 8 pass from Sorenson (Barrow kick), 2:46
Fourth Quarter
R – Cummings 17 run (kick failed), 11:47
R – Cummings 1 run (Hunter kick), 8:51
S – Echeverry 23 FG, 0:00.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Rocklin (30-148): Cummings 29-159, Sorenson 1-(-11). Servite (45-173): Fajardo 19-82, West 9-42, DeRosa 5-15, Guerreo 1-13, Nicholls 1-12, Thomas 3-9.
Passing
Rocklin (16-32-2-262): Sorenson 15-30-2-241, Cummings 1-2-0-21. Servite (12-21-0-182): Fajardo 12-21-0-182.
Receiving
Rocklin (16-262): Huff 6-100, Garvella 4-79, Moore 1-35, Williams 2-25, Cummings 2-19, Polaske 1-4. Servite (12-182): Guerrero 2-66, Abeyta 1-28, West 1-24, Johnson 2-23, Nicholls 4-22, DeRosa, 2-19.