Poway Edges Mistake-Prone Mt. Carmel 36-32

The Poway High football team was just under two minutes away from handing the Kiwanis Cup over to long-time rival Mt. Carmel Friday night at Sundevil Stadium.

All Mt. Carmel had to do was drain the final 1:59 off the clock to preserve a 32-
30 victory and raise the coveted trophy that is given to the winner of the game.

But the Titans' defense, like it did all night long, took full advantage of a Mt. Carmel miscue.

Poway's Ryan Moreno hopped on a fumbled pitch by the Sundevils with 1:54 left and Jimmy Moreno capped 48-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard TD run, as the Titans retained the Kiwanis Cup with an improbable 36-32 non-league victory over their former Palomar League rivals.

"This is a huge win for us," Ryan Moreno said. "We have had a rivalry going with them for a long time, even though we haven't played them (since 2007). We are excited to keep the Kiwanis Cup."

Both teams blew 10-point leads and the game seemed all but over when Poway (2-2) came up 2-yards shy of a first down on a fourth-and-17 play with 1:59 left. But on the very next play the Sundevils (2-2) fumbled the ball away for the fourth time.

"I seen the pitch go back and I seen the fumble," Ryan Moreno said. "I was the first one there and I covered that ball up with my life."

It only took four plays for Poway to set the stage for Jimmy Moreno's game-winning score. The Titans got a 12-yard run from Chris Schmit, 19-yard burst by Andrew Aguirre and 20-yard dash by Evan Gray before Moreno took it into the end zone with 46 seconds left.

The last-minute victory spoiled a terrific effort from Sundevils' star quarterback/running back Matt Rochelle. The senior finished with 236 yards rushing and touchdown runs of 71, 8, 29 and 1 yards. He also threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Dominique Nelson. The Sundevils finished with 421 yards rushing.

But Mt. Carmel made too many mistakes to overcome, turning the ball over five times, not including a bad snap on a punt attempt, which set up a Poway touchdown. The Titans scored 27 points in all off Mt. Carmel miscues.

"The turnovers were a huge help for us tonight," Ryan Moreno said. "Without those we probably lose the ball game."

The Titans trailed 14-10 at halftime and went down 20-10 after Rochelle's 8-yard TD run with 8:16 left in the third quarter. But the Poway offense scored 20 unanswered points, including a 20-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Jesse Dongog, to pull ahead 30-20 heading into the fourth quarter.

A pair of touchdowns by Rochelle put Mt. Carmel back in front 32-20, but that only set the stage for Poway's final go-ahead score.

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The Star:  The entire Poway defense. The Titans recovered four fumbles, including one with 1:54 left to setup the game-winning touchdown drive. Poway also intercepted a pass in the final minute to seal the victory.

The Turning Point:  Jesse Dongog recovered a fumble and returned it 20 yards for the score to cap the third quarter, where the Titans scored 20 unanswered points to turn a 10-point deficit into a 10-point lead.

Stat of the Game:  Even though it was in a losing effort, Mt. Carmel senior Matt Rochelle put on quite a show. The elusive quarterback/running back rushed 26 times for 236 yards and four touchdowns. He also tossed a touchdown.

Scoring Summary

Poway               7     3      20      6    –   36
Mt. Carmel      7     7        6     12    –   32

P – J. Moreno 1 run (Diaz kick)
MC – Nelson 14 pass from Rochelle (Bruce kick)
MC – Rochelle 71 run (Bruce kick)
P – Diaz 43 FG
MC – Rochelle 8 run (Kick failed)
P – Gray 27 pass from Isaak (Kick failed)
P – Verne 25 run (Diaz kick)
P – Dongog 20 fumble return (Diaz kick)
MC – Rochelle 29 run (Kick failed)
MC – Rochelle 1 run (Run failed)
P – J. Moreno 1 run (Pass failed)

Rushing

P (Attempts-Yards) – Verne 14-89, Gray 4-43, Schmit 2-15, J. Moreno 3-3, Isaak 5-(-20). Total: 28-130.
MC – Rochelle 26-236, Lewis 13-117, Robinson 5-22, Nelson 3-14, Halliburton 2-14, Akimi 1-5, McAtee 1-5, Vasko 1-5, LoPresti 1-3. Total: 53-421.

Passing

P (Completions-Attempts-INTs-Yards) – Isaak 7-19-133.
MC – Rochelle 2-5-1-24, Vasko 0-1-0. Total: 2-6-1-24.

Receiving

P – Sharpe 1-45, Gross 3-41, Gray 1-27, Soffer 1-15, Petersen 1-5. Total: 7-133
MC – Nelson 2-24.

Fumbles/Fumbles Lost

Poway 0/0, Mt. Carmel 5/4.