La Quinta Hangs On Despite Late Surges by Buena Park
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GARDEN GROVE — La Quinta High School defeated Buena Park, 25-22, Friday night, but the Aztecs had to withstand a fourth-quarter Coyote rally to advance to the second round of the Division VI playoffs.
La Quinta, the Garden Grove League champion, will play the winner of tonight’s Valencia-Sierra Vista game next weekend.
La Quinta (11-0) led, 12-0, entering the fourth quarter after first-quarter touchdown runs by Donald Hopkins and Walter Dawkins. But Buena Park (5-6) closed the gap to five points (12-7) on the first play of the final period when Angel Barrios scored on a three-yard run.
After Dawkins gave the Aztecs an 18-7 lead with 7:45 to play, Barrios returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards to make it 18-14. La Quinta extended its lead to 25-14 when Dawkins broke free on a 55-yard touchdown run with :48 to play.
But the Coyotes weren’t done. Quarterback Mark Medellin engineered a final scoring drive that culminated in a seven-yard scoring pass to Juan Guerra. The two-point conversion pass made the score 25-22 with :09 to play.
La Quinta recovered the ensuing onside kick to preserve the victory.
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