MISSION VIEJO – What looked to be an enticing offensive showdown on paper in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 3 playoffs was denied one of its power sources, which made for a long night for host Capistrano Valley.
Without its dynamic starting quarterback, the Cougars were outpaced by visiting Inglewood, which pounded the rock in a 40-16 victory on Friday at Saddleback College.
Inglewood (6-5) will host Edison in the CIF-SS Division 3 second round. Edison beat Huntington Beach on their shared field in the first round.
“They competed. It’s playoff time, and they rose to the occasion,” Inglewood coach Milvon James said. “First three quarters, I thought they played a phenomenal game… Moving forward, we have to be better. We have to stay our foot on the gas.”
Capistrano Valley (8-2) ends its season after a second-place finish in Orange County’s Delta League.
Cougars starting quarterback Talon Spencer was out with an injury to his non-throwing hand suffered in the season finale against Tustin. Spencer, a junior, is also a top baseball prospect, and the decision was made to stick with recovery rather than possibly make the injury worse.
This season Spencer threw for nearly 1,400 yards with 21 touchdowns and ran for over 600 yards with nine touchdowns.
“It’s pretty remarkable that he finished the Tustin game,” Capo Valley coach Sean Curtis said. “He was so upset he couldn’t be out here. He wanted to play so bad.”
Freshman quarterback Matt Paikoff stepped up in Spencer’s place and battled for nearly 200 yards passing with one touchdown to Jolan Gonzalez and two interceptions. Colin Hooper caught five passes for 64 yards.
Trey Schild recovered a fumble for a late Capo Valley touchdown.
“I was proud of them,” Curtis said. “We believed we were going to come in here and do it. We just didn’t play our best football… Proud of the fight. The score doesn’t show how much we put into this.”
Inglewood scored five rushing touchdowns in the game, including two scores and over 100 yards on the ground for Semaj Welch. Masyn Harvey also ran in two touchdowns. Sentinels sophomore quarterback Lincoln John threw for over 160 yards with a 30-yard touchdown pass.
Andre Nickerson and Chase Wesley pulled in interceptions for Inglewood.
Inglewood came out hard and fast with a 94-yard, 11-play opening drive. The Sentinels converted a third-and-14 to open the drive on a pass from Jahn to Nickerson, and Inglewood set up deep on a 45-yard pass to Allen Wilson.
Welch rammed in the opening score on a seven-yard run. Extra point was no good, but Inglewood grabbed a 6-0 lead.
Capo Valley was held three-and-out on the next drive, and Inglewood again followed up with a hard-hitting drive. The Sentinels converted three third downs on the drive, including a four-yard touchdown run for Welch’s second score and a 13-0 lead.
The Cougars defense locked in in the second quarter, including a key sack from Damon Epstein, and that allowed the offense to eventually find a rhythm.
However, despite some movement, Capo Valley could not convert.
The Cougars missed on a 35-yard field goal, and after getting deep on chunk plays from Paikoff to Cartyr Quartucy, a jump pass was deflected and intercepted in the endzone by Nickerson for Inglewood with 27 seconds left in the half.
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The Sentinels held the lead at halftime, 13-0.
Inglewood kept its foot on the gas to open the second half.
Jahn’s arm led the first scoring drive, capped on a 30-yard catch-and-run by Austyn Tillman, and Sentinels went up by four scores with a 16-yard gadget run by Harvey.
Inglewood led 26-0 when Capo Valley finally found the end zone late in the third quarter.
On a penalty-assisted drive, Paikoff found Jolan Gonzalez on a 17-yard touchdown pass, and Paikoff caught the two-point pass to put Cougars numbers on the board, 26-8.
Wilson tacked on another rushing score for Inglewood on a 20-yard touchdown, and Harvey ran in his second touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Schild recovered a fumbled punt snap for Capo Valley’s second touchdown with under two minutes to play.
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