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Tokay High's Patrick McCarthy makes a diving catch to score a touchdown between West High's Richard Malaby, right, and Adam Crandall to end the first half Friday night at the Grape Bowl. The Tigers blew a large lead in a 48-47 setback to the Wolf Pack. (Jerry R. Tyson/News-Sentinel)
Tokay Tigers blow late 27-point lead in loss to Wolf Pack
Ahead 47-20 going into the fourth quarter, it looked like Tokay was on track to cruise to a victory and head to the playoffs with a 7-3 record.
West had other plans.
The Wolf Pack rallied from a 27-point deficit, scoring four fourth-quarter touchdowns and winning the game on a do-or-die two-point conversion with 1:10 left in the game to come away with an upset win in the regular-season finale at the Grape Bowl on Friday night.
With the loss, the Tigers' playoff hopes rest in getting one of the Sac-Joaquin Section's eight at-large playoff bids, which will be announced Saturday night. After the game, Tokay head coach Louis Franklin was unsure if his squad would get in with a 6-4, 2-3 Tri-City Athletic League mark.
"I don't know. I don't know if we deserve it right now. You don't want to back your way into the playoffs," he said. "Are we a good team? Yeah, but we let a couple slip away from us — like Edison and tonight. St. Mary's we can live with. This, this is not what we needed to do tonight."
Tokay's offense was firing on all cylinders in the first three quarters. Tiger quarterback Seth Siddle-Mitchell ran for 164 yards and two touchdowns. He threw for another 118 and found Patrick McCarthy for two touchdowns, including a 35-yard last-ditch TD pass with no time left on the clock as Tokay took a 27-20 lead into halftime. Flashing some trickery, Siddle-Mitchell handed off to wide receiver Jon Haley, who hit McCarthy for a 56-yard touchdown pass 51 seconds into the third quarter. Nico Antolin added to Tokay's lead when he picked off a Jake Peterson pass and returned it 60 yards for a TD as the Tigers went up 40-20. Haley picked off another Peterson pass five minutes later, setting up a McCarthy 2-yard run as Tokay went ahead 47-20 with 1:12 to go in the third.
As soon as the fourth quarter started, so did the comeback for West (3-7, 2-3 TCAL).
"It didn't look good and then they came out in the second half and score, but my guys would not quit," West head coach Steve Lopez said.
With star running back Dexter Alcala injured, the Wolf Pack went to the air. Peterson dissected Tokay's defense for big gains and West marched up and down the field. He hit Patrick Phillips for three touchdown passes in a 4:30-minute span to cut Tokay's lead to 47-40 with 4:27 to go. West also took advantage of 15 penalties that accounted for 147 yards against Tokay.
"As much as we jumped up on them, the tide turned quickly because they started getting those big momentum changers," Franklin said.
Then West's defense played its part. The Wolf Pack stopped the Tigers on a fourth-and-9 at West's 34-yard line to get the ball back on downs with 1:58 remaining. It only took 50 seconds before Peterson hit Darin Fleming on a 10-yard pass to tie the game. Then West went for the win and Peterson, who went 18 of 30 for 348 yards with four TDs and four interceptions, found Desean Watson for the game-winning two-point conversion.
"We came back that far, why would we go for a tie?" Lopez said. "This is it. We don't play anymore. Why not go for two?"
Tokay fumbled the ensuing kickoff with 1:10 remaining and West recovered to seal the victory. The loss left the Tigers frustrated as they now await their playoff fate.
"We controlled our destiny," Franklin said. "We should have been able to come away with a victory here."
Contact reporter Joelle Milholm at joellem@lodinews.com.
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| WEST 48, TOKAY 47 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West | 7 | 13 | 0 | 28 | — | 48 |
| Tokay | 6 | 21 | 20 | 0 | — | 47 |
| Scoring Summary | ||||||
| First Quarter W — Watson 3 run (Crandall kick) T — Siddle-Mitchell 33 run (kick failed) | ||||||
| Second Quarter T — McCarthy 5 pass from Siddle-Mitchell (kick blocked) W — Kaigler 14 pass from Peterson (kick failed) W — Phillips 34 pass from Peterson (Crandall kick) T — Siddle-Mitchell 48 run (Siddl-Mitchell run) T — McCarthy 35 pass from Siddle-Mitchell (Rivers kick) | ||||||
| Third Quarter T — McCarthy 56 pass from Haley (Rivers kick) T — Antolin 60 INT return (kick failed) T — McCarthy 2 run (Rivers kick) | ||||||
| Fourth Quarter W — Phillips 81 pass from Peterson (Crandall kick) W — Phillips 4 pass from Peterson (Crandall kick) W — Phillips 32 pass from Peterson (kick failed) W — Fleming 10 pass from Peterson (Watson pass from Peterson) | ||||||
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Bob Hussein Loblaw wrote on Nov 18, 2009 12:43 PM:
tiger99 wrote on Nov 18, 2009 9:41 AM:
fballfan wrote on Nov 17, 2009 7:16 PM:
flamefan wrote on Nov 17, 2009 6:51 PM:
flamefan wrote on Nov 17, 2009 6:49 PM:
RUFKM wrote on Nov 17, 2009 8:50 AM:
citizen wrote on Nov 16, 2009 2:46 PM:
fballfan wrote on Nov 16, 2009 1:36 PM:
fballfan wrote on Nov 16, 2009 1:34 PM:
RUFKM wrote on Nov 16, 2009 1:19 PM:
Tokay has gotten a lot better each week. Lodi has been rolled the past few games. It sure would be fun to watch them play.
Lodi will make the playoffs because they return Perkins, and the coaches will realize they must give the ball to Perkins in order to win. "
fballfan wrote on Nov 16, 2009 7:50 AM:
tokaydude wrote on Nov 15, 2009 9:46 PM:
fballfan wrote on Nov 15, 2009 8:46 PM:
thsfbmom wrote on Nov 15, 2009 7:13 PM:
citizen wrote on Nov 15, 2009 6:04 PM:
citizen wrote on Nov 15, 2009 2:49 PM:
tigermeat wrote on Nov 15, 2009 1:10 PM:
tokay54 wrote on Nov 14, 2009 6:36 PM:
RUFKM wrote on Nov 14, 2009 4:42 PM:
Best of luck Tokay, I guarantee Lodi will be in the playoffs next year. Enjoy your shot this year. "
curveball wrote on Nov 14, 2009 12:51 PM:
RUFKM wrote on Nov 14, 2009 8:25 AM:
tigermeat wrote on Nov 14, 2009 8:21 AM:
Comments on this story are now closed.