Chino football pulls out victory over South Hills with late TD
COVINA – In what was probably one of the wildest finishes to a high school football game this season, Chino pulled out a 21-14 victory over South Hills Thursday night to remain undefeated in the Hacienda League.
The Huskies (4-4, 2-1), who trailed the entire night, tied the score on a 12-yard run by Messiah Luter with 1:11 left in the game.
That was only the beginning.
The Cowboys (3-5, 3-0) took the ensuing kickoff at their own 25 and it took the them only two plays to put the ball in the end zone.
Senior quarterback Max Barroso hit Nathan Pena for a 13-yard gain. Barrosa then hit C.J. Gibson in full stride for a 62-yard scoring play with 40-seconds left that turned out to be the game winner.
It was Gibson's second scoring catch of the game.
"C.J. is one of our great receivers," Barrosa said. "I've got a lot of faith in him and I knew he was going to get some kind of separation and I just got it to him."
Barrosa completed 10 of 15 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns.
"Their DB got banged up on the previous play," Cowboys coach Joey LaRosa said. "He had to come out so we attacked that spot right away and and C.J. scored. Our coaching staff just capitalized and took advantage of it."
That 40 seconds was almost enough for the Huskies to make another miracle comeback.
A halfback pass from Anthony Gonzales to Cesar Lizaola plus a fifteen-yard penalty gave the Huskies the ball at the Cowboys 29-yard line with 13-seconds left.
After a Chino timeout, Nathan Sena intercepted a Huskies pass in the end zone to put the game on ice.
"We practice our two-minute drill every week," LaRosa said. "We didn't mean to give the ball back with that much time left. We're just happy to be 3-0 (in league)."
The Cowboys scored first on a 13-yard keeper by Barroso.
After the Huskies appeared to score the tying touchdown on a fourth down pass, it was ruled out of bounds by the officials.
The Cowboys scored on their first play after that with Barroso hitting Gibson for a 61-yard score.
"I thought they scored," LaRosa said. "I think the official got confused with the yellow (soccer end line) and the white line. Our guys upstairs said he scored. We'll take it but, hats off to South Hills, they fought all the way."
Gibson had five catches for 157 yards and two touchdowns.
The Huskies, who have been decimated by injuries this year battled back.
They scored on the first play of the fourth quarter to get back in the game on three-yard run by Gonzales.
With Chino on the move the Huskies defense forced a fumble at their own 13-yard line. That set the stage for their 87-yard, 16-play drive that took 7:02 off the clock capped by Luter's touchdown.
The Huskies face first-place Covina next week and close out the regular season at Los Altos. A win in either of those games should lock up their first playoff appearance since 2019.
