From the archives: Teams hit century mark

Friday night proved to be no exception. The two teams combined for 884 yards from scrimmage — factor in three kickoff returns for touchdowns and that number eclipses the 1,000-yard mark — and 15 touchdowns as they went over the 100-point barrier in Sequoia’s 60-42 win at Terremere Field in Redwood City.

Keep in mind the score was 21-7 at halftime in favor of Sequoia. To say defense was lacking in the second half would be an understatement.

“I think we made it harder on ourselves than we should have,” said Sequoia coach Sam Lopez. “We always give the fans their money’s worth when we face Hillsdale.”

Sequoia (2-2, 2-4) had three players rush for over 100 yards — Miguel Flores led the way with 178 yards and two touchdowns on just eight carries. Jose Ramirez had the best game of his career with 127 yards and two scores on 16 carries and George Holland added 101 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.

Hillsdale (1-3, 1-5) countered with receiver/returner Marcus Dunlap. The senior scored three touchdowns — he had kickoff returns of 95 and 79 yards for scores and his only reception went for a 70-yard touchdown. Quarterback Kyle Lau completed only 6 of 14 passes, but he made his completions count. He threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns. In addition to the 70-yard strike to Dunlap, he hooked up with Dean Tayara for a 40-yard score.

“Marcus is an unbelievable athlete,” said Hillsdale coach Brad Zucker. “He single-handedly got us back in the game. We felt like we could move the ball (in the second half) and it became a shootout.

“They had more bullets.”

In addition to his two rushing touchdowns for the Cherokees, Flores threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Ruben Ramirez, who made his second spectacular diving catch into the end zone on the night. He made a diving stab of a Bobby De La Cruz pass from an 11-yard score for the Cherokees’ first touchdown of the night.

Flores also added a kickoff return for a score of his own. With 12 seconds left in the game, he fielded the Hillsdale kickoff at his 25 and ran toward the right sideline with the intention of running out the clock. When he picked up some blockers who sealed off the interior, Flores turned it upfield and bolted 75 yards for the final touchdown of the night.

Despite the final score, this was actually a close game midway through the third quarter. Down 21-7 at halftime, Hillsdale took the second-half kickoff and needed only two plays to get back into the game when Lau and Dunlap hooked up for their long scoring pass.

Sequoia responded with Holland’s only score of the game from 4 yards out which capped a nine-play, 69-yard drive.

Hillsdale struck quickly again, going 64 yards on just four plays with the drive culminating in the 40-yard strike from Lau to Dean Tayara, cutting the Sequoia lead to 27-21 with 5:24 left in the third quarter.

By this time, the Sequoia players were snapping and yelling at each other on the sideline. Despite Hillsdale’s quick-strike capabilities, Lopez said he was never really worried.

“We had to stay focused. I knew the run game was working,” Lopez said.

Sequoia finally put the Knights away in the fourth quarter, scoring 27 points.

The first half, however, gave no indication of the second-half fireworks as mistakes, penalties and injuries kept the game from developing any kind of flow. Hillsdale was especially sloppy. The Knights committed two turnovers and had seven penalties for 65 yards. They managed only 38 yards of offense from the line of scrimmage and failed to pick up a first down.

“We were disappointed in the mistakes we made,” Zucker said.

Sequoia, while totaling 260 yards of offense in the first half, was far from perfect. The Cherokees had eight penalties for 55 yards and a turnover.

For the game, the two teams combined for 23 penalties for 175 yards and six turnovers.