LOCKNEY – Momentum is often talked about in football games as it hops from one sideline to the other during the course of a contest.
At Mitchell Zimmerman Field on Friday night, old momentum had setup a tent on the Miami sideline for the first 11 plus minutes of the game. However, one play woke him up as he slowly made his way across the field to the Klondike side as the Cougars rallied for a 60-34 to get a win during a UIL Class 1A Division II state quarterfinal.
The victory for Klondike (13-0) moves them into the state semifinals for the second year in a row where they will get a rematch of last year’s semifinal game with Jayton (13-0) at a time and place to be determined.
Miami finished with a 12-1 mark which ties the 2023 team with most wins in school history and their second state quarterfinal appearance in three years.
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Both teams entered the game with undefeated records, but the Warriors were heavy underdogs to the number No. 2 team in the state.
The problem is, someone forgot to tell Miami they weren’t expected to win.
Miami took the opening drive and marched down the field behind their strong running attack and Chance White gave the Warriors an early 6-0 lead on a 16-yard straight ahead run to the endzone.
The defense for the purple and gold then made its mark early forcing the Cougars into an early fourth and nine. Jared Quintanilla rolled to his left looking to pass when he decided to tuck the ball and run. The talented Cougar spread back took off left to right across the field but Noah Homfeld chased him down four yards short of the marker to give the ball back to Miami.
Running behind their all-state center Kris Gorecki, the Warriors took over on their own twenty-four and began the march to paydirt.
Utilizing nothing but the run, Miami grinded the ball down to the Cougars 20-yard line when the freshman White made his mark again. Using his speed, he found the right edge, broke two tackles, and dashed into the end zone as Miami held a 12-0 lead with 1:49 to go in the first quarter.
Things continued to go Miami’s way on the next Klondike possession. Taking over at their own 36, the Cougars tried a double reverse on the first play and Quintanilla’s hand off to Cannon Scott was botched and the Warriors quickly jumped on the ball at the Klondike 29.
The Warriors quickly gained a first down at the Cougars fourteen to set up a first and goal. On first down, White picked up a yard as both teams flipped ends of the field with Miami having that strong south wind at their back to begin the quarter. Homfeld pounded out three yards on second down and White found nothing on third down to set up a fourth and goal at the Klondike nine-yard line.
On fourth down, the Warriors set up Jack Kotara as the spread back to give him the option to run or pass. The diminutive signal caller rolled left but, under heavy pressure, reversed field to the right and saw White open in the end zone. Unfortunately for Kotara, Quintanilla read the play and stepped in front of the pass at the goal line and returned it 80-yards for an apparent score.
A block in the back negated the touchdown but the Cougars did stave off a three-score deficit and took over at their own fifteen. Five plays later Quintanilla raced around the right edge for a score and the lead for Miami was cut to 12-7.
White then struggled to handle the kickoff and that pinned Miami at their own six-yard line. Three running plays left the Warriors with a fourth and five at their own fifteen when disaster struck. Homfeld couldn’t handle the snap and could do nothing but fall on the ball at the Miami thirteen. Three plays later, Quintanillia stepped up in the pocket and fired a laser to Luke Smith and with 2:58 to go in the first half, Klondike took their first lead of the game, 15-12.
Just when it looked like Klondike might have taken control of the game, the Warriors showed their mettle. Patiently marching down field, Miami put together a nine play, 58 yard drive capped off on fourth and goal from the one as Homfeld plunged in behind Gorecki for the score and a 20-15 lead with forty-two seconds left in the half.
The Cougars, having righted a leaking ship in the second quarter, took the opening kickoff of the second half and quickly regained the lead as Quintanilla launched a 40-yard bomb to Smith on a post pattern and the all-state receiver cruised into the end zone as Klondike jumped back in front, 22-20, with forty seconds gone in the quarter.
Both squads exchanged possessions in the quarter and Quintanilla went to work again. The lanky runner tossed his second his scoring pass of the third quarter to Aaron Smith with 1:48 left as the Cougars held a 29-20 lead headed to the fourth.
The Warriors offense, which had created running room all night long, began to sputter again and the Cougars put this game away in the opening minute of the fourth quarter as Quintanilla raced in from twenty yards out to give Klondike a 36-20 lead.
That score was the first of five touchdowns in the final stanza for the Cougars as they ran away from the Warriors to put this game away.
White finished the night with 99 hard earned yards on 23 carries and two scores while Homfeld amassed 132 yards on the ground and two scores.
Quintanilla was huge for the Cougars as he finished the night with 91 yards on the ground and three scores, but his passing was the difference. The senior went five for five in the second half for 119 yards and three touchdowns as he finished with 177 yards through the air.