
By DAMIAN CALHOUN
OCVarsity staff
PLACENTIA — The El Dorado defense had allowed Tustin running back Anthony Wilkerson to rush for 305 yards before a pivotal fourth-down play late in Thursday’s game at Valencia High.
The Tillers were at the El Dorado 27 and needed 3 yards for a first down, but Wilkerson was stopped short by a swarm of Golden Hawks defenders.
“I didn’t watch that play personally,” El Dorado quarterback Kane Wilson said of Wilkerson’s fourth down run. “I just waited for the crowd to react.”
El Dorado took over and, after a late safety, left the field as Century League champions after a 28-23 victory over the Tillers. (Full game stats.)
The Golden Hawks’ (5-5, 4-1) ended the regular season in a three-way tie for the league title, with Tustin and Canyon.
El Dorado won the postgame coin flip and will enter the CIF-SS Southwest Division playoffs as the No. 1 seed out of the Century League. Tustin will be the second seed and Canyon the third.
“It was a battle of attrition,” El Dorado coach Jeff Bailey said. “Our kids just found a way.
“All year, we haven’t been a good second half team, but tonight they found a way to gut check it and make the plays in the fourth quarter.”
El Dorado began the season losing five of its first six, but is now on a four-game winning streak heading into the playoffs.
No Surprise here El Dorado is a good team that has not got their winning form together.
Go HAWKS!!!!!
Great game to watch. Wilkerson was simply amzing. El Dorado played “team ball” and the defense was stiff when it counted most.
Three very solid teams from the Century League moving forward.
Could El Dorado become the sleeper team during the playoffs?
Wow. I had written El Dorado off. Those guys really came back strong. Century leage has 3 teams going into CIF playing very well. This will make the 1st round very interesting for one of the #1 seeds. You win your league and then you get El Dorado in the first round.
Congrats to ElDo. If this was early in league play, we would have won. But it isn’t and we didn’t.
Despite the loss, we’re still in good shape for a deep run into the playoffs. Majority of the playoff bound teams are run heavy teams. So this helps the defense. Offensively, I’d wish Miller would spread the ball around. Wilkerson getting 39 is somewhat absurd when we got Richardson & Webb out there.
* 39 carries