Football Recap: Coalinga Falls Short of Highland in the Playoffs

Horned Toads

Previous 5 Games

12/06/24 vs Highland	31-33
11/29/24 @ Shafter	34-33
11/22/24 vs Roosevelt	49-0
11/15/24 vs Chowchilla	35-7
11/08/24 vs Washington Union	23-22

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Coalinga can now relate to. They fell just short of the Highland Bulldogs by a score of 33-31 on Friday. The Horned Toads' loss signaled the end of their 14-game winning streak.

Several Horned Toads players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Dylan Teixeira, who picked up 103 receiving yards and one touchdown.

Justin Wyatt Jr. was his usual excellent self, rushing for 103 yards and one touchdown on only six carries, while also throwing for 100 yards and one touchdown while completing 71.4% of his passes for Highland. That's the most rushing yards Wyatt Jr. has posted since back in October of 2023. Roderick Erwin was another key player, rushing for 73 yards and two touchdowns.

Having lost for the first time this season, Coalinga fell to 14-1. As for Highland, the win was the sixth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 11-4.

Coalinga does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Highland, they will be playing in front of their home fans against St. Vincent de Paul at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. St. Vincent de Paul knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 31 points or more in their past 12 contests -- so hopefully Highland likes a good challenge.