Historic Season for San Marcos Football Program Comes to an End After Playoff Loss to Chino

Demetrius Alloway found a cutback lane and glided into the end zone from six-yards out to give visiting Chino its first lead of the game with 1:13 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The late touchdown was too much for the San Marcos to overcome as the Royals dropped their CIF-SS Division 10 first round game, 14-13, on Friday night at Warkentin Stadium.

“I’m proud of our effort. There’s no doubt that we battled,” said San Marcos coach Ralph Molina. “We knew that these guys were going to be good. We knew that there was no way that this was a 15-seed team.”

Both teams scored touchdowns on their opening drives of the game, but from that point forward it was a defensive slugfest.

The Royals took the opening kickoff and marched 68 yards on seven plays. The key play on the drive was a 28-yard run by Nate Jones on 4th-and-2 from the San Marcos 40-yard line. Three plays later, Danny Diaz connected with Anthony Obispo on a screen pass that broke open for a 35-yard touchdown.

Not to be outdone, the Cowboys put together a methodical 14-play, 85-yard drive that was capped off by a one-yard touchdown plunge by quarterback Maximus Barroso that evened the score at 14-14.

Chino appeared poised to take the lead just before halftime, but a Cole Dominguez interception deep in San Marcos territory with 23 seconds remaining in the second quarter kept the two teams knotted up at the break.

After a series of punts San Marcos finally regained the lead, 10-7,  with five seconds remaining in the third quarter on a 28-yard field goal by Austin Downey.

An interception by Jones ended the ensuing Chino possession and setup San Marcos with excellent field position at the Cowboys’ 38-yard line. The Royals advanced to the seven-yard line but a pass from Diaz to Quinn Donnell on third down was incomplete and the Royals settled for a 24-yard field goal by Downey with 6:20 remaining in the game.

“It was one of those things, do we take the points or do we try to go for it and try to get a touchdown out of it,” Molina said. “We hit the field goal and I was hoping our defense would be able to stop them.”

Based on the pace of the game it was clear that Chino would only have one more legitimate chance to pull ahead and the Cowboys seized the opportunity.Chino marched 66-yards on ten consecutive runs to set up Alloway’s touchdown with 1:13 remaining.

The Royals had one more opportunity to keep their season alive, but Diaz’s third down pass was intercepted to clinch the victory for Chino. 

San Marcos finished the season with a 6-4-1 record. Chino will advance to asecond round matchup against Silverado of Victorville. 

San Marcos’ 27 seniors created an impressive legacy as the first San Marcos team to make the playoffs since 2005.

Dos Pueblos, 35; Crescenta Valley 27

The Chargers survived and advanced in their playoff opener. Senior running back Kaleb Williams scored four touchdowns to lead the Chargers to victory.