El Camino pulls off Hail Mary to take down Mateo

EC was in dire straits, facing a five-point deficit with 13 seconds to go. But facing fourth down from the San Mateo 41-yard line, senior Jonas Junio ran a fly route up the left sideline and got behind two defenders for a Hail Mary heave from sophomore quarterback Noel Valdez.

And — boom! Junio hauled in the game winner on the game’s final play.

“It couldn’t get scripted any better,” Colts head coach Archie Junio said.

What a night it was for the Junio family. Jonas Junio is the nephew of the Colts’ new head coach. And what a show he put forth in his uncle’s debut.

The senior running back was Everywhere Man, racking up 233 total yards. He carried the ball 22 times for 133 rushing yards.

“It was a lot of carries to give any kid but we needed every one of those,” Archie Junio said.

Jonas Junio added three catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns, including a 60-yard reception on a screen pass from Valdez, which Junio promptly advanced for 60 yards after the catch.

San Mateo jumped out to a 13-0 lead at the half. The Bearcats got on the board in the first quarter, marching for a 95-yard drive capped by a 5-yard scoring run by Will Bradford.

In the second quarter, Bradford added his second score, breaking loose for an 80-yard TD run.

EC scored 14 unanswered points in the third quarter. After Junio’s romp off the screen pass cut the lead to 13-7, EC senior fullback Curtis Chou scored on a 4-yard dive to give the Colts a 14-13 lead.

San Mateo looked to be in good shape by scoring on its final possession of the game. Luke Bergstrom punched in a 1-yard run with 1:31 remaining in regulation. However, the Bearcats failed on the ensuing 2-point conversion try, a play that loomed large in the final outcome.

In his varsity debut, Valdez was 8-of-22 passing for 189 yards and two touchdowns.