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Football: Waters' Big Night Lifts Las Lomas to Upset of Miramonte

The Knights top previously undefeated Miramonte 27-24.

Adam Berke, Neighbor

Posted Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 4:38 am PT|Updated Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 7:55 am PT

Las Lomas 27, Miramonte 24

The Star: Las Lomas running back Marquis Waters carried the ball 35 times for 321 yards and three touchdowns. He used his quickness to get through holes before the defense could react. The entire offensive line also was well deserving of a game ball.

The Turning Point: In the fourth quarter, trailing Miramonte 24-20, the Knights took possession on their own 35. They handed the ball to Waters who churned out 66 yards driving the Knights into Miramonte territory. The drive looked to go sour on the Miramonte 24-yard line where Las Lomas faced a fourth-and-1 with 5:41 to play. Trailing by four, Las Lomas coach Doug Longero decided to go for the first down. Waters, like he had all game, ran off left tackle for 15 yards picking up the all-important first down. The next play he finished the drive with a nine-yard touchdown, which turned out to be the game-winner.

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The Quote: "That was a career-high by far. I am so juiced." — Las Lomas running back Marquis Waters discussing his 321 rushing yards.

What's Next? Las Lomas plays at Dublin, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m.

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Bottom Line: Waters was absolutely dominant. He was healthy for the first time coming off of an important bye-week and looked like a mini-version of the Tennessee Titan Chris Johnson. Waters used his superior quickness and speed to run all over Miramonte. The Knights rediscovered their offensive line and suddenly despite a horrible preseason, the Knights enter next week as a DFAL contender.

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Las Lomas High was simply electrifying in its upset victory overMiramonte.

The Knights obviously used their two-week layoff well, as they looked like a completely different outfit against Miramonte (6-1, 1-1), which came into the game ranked No. 2 in Patch's the North Coast Section Division III rankings.

"I went to watch Miramonte last week against Dougherty Valley," said Las Lomas running back Marquis Waters of how he spent his bye week. "And we picked up on their tendencies. We knew that if we beat them this week and Dublin next week we could be in first place."

If you had watched the Knights (2-4, 1-1) play against Alhambra, you would have thought Waters was crazy. But the team was handicapped in the preseason with injuries and was also experiencing the growing pains associated with having such a young team.

"We got back to the basics on the bye," Las Lomas coach Doug Longero said. "We changed some things on the o-line and we started to get healthy. Waters got healthy."

Not only did "running" Waters get healthy, but he went berserk against Miramonte, rushing for a career high 321 yards on 35 carries.

"Career high by far," Waters said. "I am so juiced."

Waters carried the ball for 66 yards on the game's winning drive. He also converted a key fourth-and-1 on the Matadors' 24 and followed it up by pounding in the game-winner from nine yards out.

After the Waters score, Miramonte still had a real chance of answering back. The Mats trailed 27-24 and gained possession with 5:23 to play on their own 17.

Miramonte drove all the way down the field on Anderson's legs, including highlight carries of 14, 16 and 15 yards. The Mats were on the Las Lomas 12-yard line with 4:03 to play and knocking on the door of an incredible come-from-behind victory.

All of the sudden disaster struck for Miramonte, on a routine pitch play where Las Lomas got deep penetration into the backfield. As Anderson sprinted to his left to pitch the ball to his running back, he was hit by a Knight's defender, causing the ball to squirt free. The loose football was recovered on the 23-yard line by the man of the evening, Waters.

"We believe we can do anything we want to do," Waters said.

The Knights recovered the ball with 4:01 to play and still needed to run out the clock and the Mats had all of their timeouts.

Las Lomas found themselves in another precarious situation facing a tough third-and-15, on its own 17-yard line with 2:31 to play. Quarterback Jackson Miller picked up the huge first down by connecting with tight end Kevin Merhoff for 36 yards.

Waters finished off an incredibly dramatic match by running the clock-out with two first downs.

"We pounded the football and Waters played well," Longero said. "We go into Dublin next week and try to get back into the race."

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Las Lomas 27, Miramonte 24

Las Lomas 7 7 6 7 — 27
Miramonte 3 7 0 14 — 24

Scoring summary
11:45, 1st: LL — Sabella 10 run (Howard kick)

3:15, 1st: M — Piganelli 39 field goal

11:11, 2nd: M — Thatcher 35 pass from Anderson (Piganelli kick)

3:26, 2nd: LL — Waters 60 run (Howard kick)

3:43, 3rd: LL — Waters 20 run (kick no good)

10:53, 4th: M — Joss 17 pass from Anderson (Piganelli kick)

6:42, 4th: M— Henson 60 punt return (Piganelli kick)

5:28, 4th: LL — Waters 9 run (Howard kick)

Individual Statistics
Rushing (car-yards): LL — Waters 35-321, Sabella 2-78, Romez 3-14, Miller 6-(-7). M — Anderson 17-112, Coupin 4-22, Thatcher 2-(-1).
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): LL — Miller 4-10-45. M — Anderson 13-24-172.
Receiving (rec-yards): LL — Merhoff 2-36, Smith 1-7, Romez 1-2. M — Honens 1-38, Thatcher 1-35, Joss 2-26, Coupin 3-25, Piganelli 4-17, Pietrykowski 1-9, McGonigle 1-9.

Team offense (rush-pass-total)
Las Lomas 406-45-451
Miramonte 133-172-305
Fumbles/lost: LL — 0/0; M — 1/1.
Records: Las Lomas 2-4, 1-1. Miramonte 6-1, 2-1.

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