Avalon High’s football team reached its fourth semifinal of the CIF-SS Playoffs in the past four years, with a 50-6 win over Hesperia Christian in the Eight-Man Division 2 quarterfinal on Saturday at Hesperia Christian. If the Lancers can win this week’s game, it will be their second trip to the championship game in the past four years.
Not only did the Lancers have to take the boat overtown, they also endured about a 90-minute drive to the high desert town of Hesperia. So, the lopsided win was particularly impressive, given the long travel just to get to the game.
The Lancer defense was on task, led by two interceptions by Chris Gonzalez and a forced fumble by Aaron Rubio. Manases Rubio had two quarterback sacks and Matthew De La Rosa kept the Patriots’ top receiver to zero catches. De La Rosa also returned the second half opening kickoff for a touchdown. Issac Rivas had several big tackles for losses to thwart Patriot drives.
On offense, the Lancers had three touchdowns by Owen Chavoya, two touchdowns by Eduardo Zavala and another TD from Aaron Rubio. The Lancers (5-5) will now host the semifinal game against Cornerstone Christian of Wildomar. The Crusaders (8-3) are also coming off two solid wins, a 60-14 opening-round win over Calvary Chapel of Downey and a 53-7 win over Coast Union in their quarterfinal.
The semifinal game will be at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Joe Machado Field. The winner will take on the winner of Thacher of Ojai and Lancaster Baptist on Nov. 29 or 30, TBD.
