Titans edge Golden Hawks
| Saturday, Nov 14 2009 12:07 AM
Last Updated Saturday, Nov 14 2009 12:12 AM
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Rod Thornburg / Special to The Californian
After making a catch, Centennial's Cole Hallum is grabbed by Frontier linebacker Will Harvey, left, and defensive back Amir Ahmed in the first half Friday night.
Coming off its only loss of the season, Frontier had one last statement to make before the Central Section playoffs begin next week.
And the Titans did just that Friday night by leading from start to finish in beating Southwest Yosemite League rival Centennial 30-22.
"Its important for playoff seedings for us to show that we can beat a division one team and a good team at that," Frontier coach Rich Cornford said.
It wasn't easy though. The visiting Titans (9-1, 5-1 SWYL) led 14-12 at halftime before finally getting some breathing room in the third quarter as Centennial (6-4, 3-3 SWYL) committed four turnovers, including three interceptions by junior quarterback Cody Kessler.
Frontier's lead was still at two until late in the the quarter when Matt Darr returned interception No. 3 deep into Centennial territory. Two plays later, quarterback Josh Legoreta connected with Ian Driskill for a touchdown to put Frontier up 24-15.
It was the second TD pass of the night for Legoreta, who finished 12-of-21 for 190 yards.
Early in the third quarter after a short punt by Cole Hallum, the Titans took command with a 34-yard scoring drive that was capped off by a 2-yard DeShaunte Webber touchdown, his second of the game.
"They made plays when they needed to make plays and we struggled at times and didn't make plays," Centennial coach Bryan Nixon said. "Against a good football team you can't have those kind of turnovers."
Frontier dominated the game early and led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter despite a errant pitch on the fourth play of the game by Legoreta that was recovered by the Golden Hawks' Tyler Thorton.
After gaining just 35 yards in the first quarter, Kessler got the Centennial passing game going in time to cut Frontier's lead to 14-12 by halftime.
With Kessler completing three passes for 67 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown to Hallum, the Golden Hawks marched 87 yards to cut the deficit to 14-6 early in the second quarter.
Late in the half after Centennial blocked a 44-yard Darr field goal attempt, Kessler and Hallum struck again. On third-and-10 from the Frontier 17, Kessler rolled out threw the ball up high to the 6-foot-1 Hallum, who fought off a defender and came down with the ball in the front of the end zone.
Kessler finished 18-of-37 for 235 yards and two touchdowns, both to Hallum who had 6 catches for 85 yards.
"It was a heck of a ball game," Cornford said. "They were very physical. I think we played very physical. We made some mistakes. They made mistakes. I'm glad we came out with it at the end."
