Chaos: Saratoga, Overfelt throw the kitchen sink at each other as Royals escape late with narrow win

SARATOGA You name it this tournament had it Turnovers Oh yeah Muffed punts Two of them Missed PAT and failed two-point conversions For sure Overfelt beat Saratoga - in a penalty-plagued war of attrition on Friday in Saratoga as the two teams slugged it out while combining for penalties and about that a large number of injuries The contest s final play was the pi ce de r sistance on a night with more twists and turns than a Stephen King novel Saratoga quarterback Anson Hulme tossed a final pass to Jayden Kwong who advanced to the Overfelt -yard line before commencing a long succession of laterals Eventually the ball made its way back to Hulme who heaved one more desperation lateral to keep the play alive It was picked up by Overfelt lineman Jaekob Vera who sprinted across the field for what looked to be a final touchdown before being tackled at the -yard line You couldn t have scripted a better ending to this particular tournament We didn t expect it to go that way Overfelt co-head coach Alan Plascencia announced completely afterward Not much went according to plan for either organization The chaos started right off the bat as Overfelt - attempted an onside kick on the opening kickoff The Royals also committed an offsides penalty on the play and Saratoga - started its first drive with the ball on Overfelt s -yard line The Falcons did quick work from there overcoming a false start on the -yard line to number nine plays later with a -yard run by Kwong Saratoga couldn t convert the ensuing extra point which kicked off a long run of squandered scoring opportunities for both teams Overfelt advanced into plus territory on its next drive but turned the ball over on downs Then Saratoga unsuccessfully faked a punt turning the ball over itself in minus territory The Royals next drive ended when Saratoga s Lucas Hawthorne intercepted a fourth-down pass The Falcons then advanced into Overfelt territory before another turnover on downs It was a hard-fought challenge Saratoga coach Archie Ljepava mentioned I don t think a lot of people in our league and in this valley and anyone in football thought we should allegedly be on the field with them I m proud of my guys They fought to the end and we made it a football battle Overfelt then sustained a long drive that ended with an end-zone interception by Saratoga middle linebacker Motekiai Pahulu who was all over the field defensively But the Falcons couldn t take advantage of their opportunity with two minutes to go before the half Saratoga netted one yard on three plays then fumbled the punt snap to set Overfelt up at the Falcons -yard line after a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties At last the Royals cashed in On the final play of the second half with four seconds on the clock Kingston Tagaloa an all-league defensive lineman who also takes handoffs for Overfelt powered in a -yard run for the touchdown Tagaloa was stonewalled on the two-point conversion attempt sending the battle to halftime tied - He s perhaps close to Plascencia declared of Tagaloa He s a bowling ball The kid the thing about him he s big but he s also quick on his feet He s got really good balance so we trust him He s our senior We trust him with the ball And he s a hard tackle After a fumble ended Overfelt s first drive of the second half in plus territory Saratoga took advantage of a muffed punt to set itself up on Overfelt s -yard line But the Falcons went backwards ultimately punting from the -yard line Overfelt was able to steel itself and put together what would ultimately be the game-winning drive The Royals fed Tagaloa and freshman running back Junior Medina to get down to the -yard line overcoming a sideline interference penalty and an overturned touchdown call on the previous play as Tagaloa punched in a one-yard count Related Articles San Ramon Valley sends a message with win over Clayton Valley Charter Barnburner Acalanes defense sparks stunning comeback win over St Ignatius High school football Friday s Week scores Saturday s schedule De La Salle overpowers St Francis improves to - Maxime Morelle does it all as Sacred Heart Prep beats Half Moon Bay From there Overfelt just had to hold on Saratoga advanced to the Royals -yard line on its next drive but a high snap was fumbled and recovered by Overfelt s Akosua Schoby and returned to the -yard line The Royals gained two first downs and forced Saratoga to call its final timeout with less than a minute to play A false start penalty pushed Overfelt back and Saratoga forced a fourth down with seven seconds remaining after the Royals took a delay of tournament Overfelt attempted to run out the clock on the play but the Royals were downed with a limited seconds remaining That set the stage for Hulme s final desperation heaves and the unpredictable nature of the contest came up on Overfelt s side one final time We started slow Plascencia disclosed We didn t expect it to go that way But the majority crucial thing respect your opponents Don t underestimate anyone And they came out to play and they exchanged punches but luckily we executed more than they did Subscribe to our Bay Area Preps HQ newsletter for all our Bay Area high school sports coverage including contest analysis scores and everything you want to know about your Bay Area high school teams