It was a chess match of sorts Friday night at Salpointe High School between the No. 4 Lancers and No. 13 Canyon del Oro.
Make that a rematch.
A week after the two teams closed out the regular season in a big Salpointe win, they fought for checkmate once more.
But they probably didn’t bargain on such a stalemate.
The two teams combined for just two field goals in the first half before the Salpointe defense came up big in the second half en route to a 10-6 victory in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs.
The Lancers held the Dorados to just three second-half points despite two trips inside the red zone, the first coming on a 17-play drive to open the third quarter that stalled before a short field goal.
Salpointe got the ball for its first second-half possession with less than three minutes left in the third quarter; Mario Padilla anxiously waited for his turn.
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He finally got it after Bijan Robinson returned the kickoff to midfield.
And then Padilla turned on the jets.
After a sluggish first half, Padilla needed all of 38 seconds to do his biggest damage — runs of 30 and 25 yards, the latter the game’s lone touchdown, as the Lancers seized control late in the third.
“Going into the half, having it be 3-3, we’re not used to that,” Padilla said. “We knew we had to capitalize whatever we could capitalize on.
“I had to get everyone rallied up, and we scored on two plays. I said all we need was three or four, and we did it on two.”
“He’s explosive, and we bottled him up in the first half — I think they had nine yards or something — but it was a matter of time,” Dorados coach Dustin Peace added. “He’s a great, great back.”
Last Friday, CDO took control early, building a 14-0 lead before the Lancers rebounded near the end of the first half to cut it to 14-10, then scored 17 straight in the second half to run away with it.
In their improbable rematch Friday, there was very little running.
CDO held Padilla, Salpointe’s 1,000-yard running back, to just 4 yards on three rushes in the first half, though he added four catches for 30 yards.
For the half, the Lancers managed just 7 rushing yards, and Kameron Carmickle completed 7 of 12 passes for 70 yards.
In fact, in a game that featured few star turns, it was the play of some unheralded Salpointe veterans who helped the Lancers emerge from the muck.
The MVP of the first half for Salpointe may have been punter/kicker Cameron Scharf, who boomed a punt to the 6-yard line and kicked a 36-yard field goal on the Lancers’ second drive.
Salpointe’s strong defense was led by linebacker Anthony Madril, who had a key sack of CDO’s Garrett Woodlock on fourth-and-5 at the Salpointe 20-yard-line after a 13-play drive following Padilla’s score. Chris Aguirre and Christian Vasquez also had standout games for the Salpointe defense.
“I thought our D bent a little but never broke,” Salpointe coach Dennis Bene said. “That’s what they’ve been doing all year.
“Mario is the headliner, but we’ve got a ton of blue-collar kids, and we really are a hardhat, lunch-pail team.”
The Dorados ran for 68 yards in the first half but managed just four first downs.
Their only score came early in the second quarter on a 30-yard field goal by Ramon Borbon.
For the game, Woodlock finished 6 of 9 for 116 yards and an interception with 19 carries for 53 yards, and Elijiah Carey added 15 carries for 63 yards.
“Offensively, we were just not executing when we had the opportunity to execute,” Peace said.
“We’re down here on the goal line, and we don’t get a touchdown, and it was a tie game.
“We had big shots, big plans in the game plan, and we had them. We had ’em. We knew we only had a few big shots, and they probably felt the same way.”
