SLO High football advances to semifinals of Division 3 playoffs after defeating Madera

Last season, basketball standout Carson Leedom made a deal with the San Luis Obispo High football team: Win seven games and Leedom would play next year, his first in pads since middle school.

The Tigers won eight games, and this year, with Leedom on the roster, they are 10-1 and headed to the CIF-Central Section Division 3 semifinals after a 49-28 win over Madera on Friday night.

The 6-foot-7 senior tight end caught three of quarterback Emilio Corona’s six touchdowns, and Jeremy Fitzsimmons rushed for another.

Big man makes plays

Bringing a player from the court to the gridiron is nothing new, and Leedom is no stranger to football. He played up through eighth grade and hasn’t missed a beat this season after sitting out for three years to focus on basketball.

He watched from the stands last year, but now he’s having an impact on the field.

The versatile small forward has now caught 11 touchdowns on the year, good for second on the team behind Max Soltero’s 12, who caught two more against Madera.

Madera keyed on Leedom, often draping him in double coverage. It didn’t matter, because at his height, he was taller than everyone on the Coyotes’ roster. His first two were highlight reel catches — a toe-tap score and another juggling the ball while on his back after fighting off two defenders. His third came on a shovel pass near the goal line.

“I told (Corona), ‘If you’re going to throw me the ball, throw it high,’” Leedom said. “And so we’ve worked on it a lot. When he threw the (first touchdown) pass I knew I had a little bit of room. He threw it up and I got it. I realized how close I was and just put one foot down.”

Leedom, who had 52 total tackles entering Friday’s game, also had a fumble recovery.

“Some of those catches were unbelievable,“ head coach Pat Johnston said. “That was a 6-7 guy playing like a possession receiver with the ball skills. Just amazing.

“It’s a tribute to what a great athlete he is — great competitor. He’s just a playmaker. I’m just really proud of him, he’s been one of the best additions to the team this year.”

Caught between sports, he’s often heard the question of which one he would like to play in college.

“I’ve gotten more looks for basketball, but I’ve had a lot more colleges come up to me and talk to me about football,” Leedom said. “And then I’ve had a couple talk to me about doing both. That’d be a lot of fun.”

Wherever he goes, he has attributes that coaches covet.

“Gifted athletes can just do things on their own, but he listens really well, takes the coaching and keeps getting better,” Johnston said.

Defensive line shows up

Junior defensive end and offensive lineman Thomas Cole had five and a half sacks and disrupted Madera’s read-option early in the game, forcing them to all but abandon it. Lamar Jefferson also had one and a half sacks.

“I talked to Tommy really quickly before the game,” Johnston said. “He’s getting some looks (from colleges), and I told him, ‘Playing well against good competition in the playoffs is a really good way to expand your recognition.’ And he showed up. He was in the backfield making athletic plays, playing tough. He had a game I hoped he would have.”

Cole has offers from Oregon State, Washington State, Arizona State and Cal Poly, and has visited Oregon. It’s easy to see why. He now has 14 sacks for the year and entered Friday with 24 tackles for a loss.

With Cole and the defensive line making it hard to run, and the Coyotes needing to keep pace with the high-powered SLO offense, they opted to pass.

Ballhawking secondary

Madera consistently completed big plays for chunks of yardage from three different quarterbacks outside of the hash marks, including a 78-yard score and another from 30 yards.

But the Tiger’s safeties patrolled the middle of the field and jumped routes to intercept four Madera passes. San Luis Obispo also recovered two fumbles.

The Tigers entered the game with 18 forced turnovers on the year. They had a third of that total on Friday. The opportunistic defense helped negate two possessions that were given back to the Coyotes on kick offs.

“Going into this season we knew they were capable of making big plays like that in the secondary — and they had to a certain degree — but I was really happy to see those things kind of click for them: be in the right spot and be able to haul it in,” Johnston said. “You win the turnover battle, you tend to win the game.”

What’s next

In the semifinals, SLO will face No. 2-seeded Bakersfield Christian (9-3), which beat Lemoore 49-7. No. 1-seeded Kingsburg lost to No. 8 Central Valley Christian, which will play No. 4-seeded Golden West in the other semifinal.

Other scores from SLO County teams

Kennedy 28, Templeton 21

Tyler Kaschewski rushed for 175 yards and two touchdowns, but the Eagles were shut out in the second half of their CIF-Division 4 quarterfinal. The junior was hobbled by an injury in the second half, and Templeton was also unable to stop Kennedy’s stable of running backs, who rushed 56 times for 354 yards and four scores.

Lineman and run-stopper Chase Richards was injured in the second quarter and did not return to the game.

Six different players rushed the ball for the Thunderbirds (10-2), and neither team completed a pass in the game.

Michael Avery had 12 carries for 58 yards and Joshua Berna had 14 carriers for 85 yards. The Eagles finished with 318 yards on the ground.

Kennedy beat the only other team to defeat the Eagles this season, Liberty of Madera, 38-14.

The loss marks the end of a resurgent season under head coach Don Crow, who previously coached the Eagles from 2004 to 2008.

Orosi 48, Mission Prep 45

A 44-yard touchdown pass with nine seconds remaining ended the Royals’ CIF-Central Section Division 6 playoff run. No. 6-seeded Mission Prep took the lead with 55 seconds left on a 2-yard score by Dalton Strouss with a chance to upset the No. 3-seeded Cardinals, but Orosi took six plays to answer.

Strouss had 18 carries for 155 yards and three touchdowns and Brian Kowall had 22 carries for 85 yards.

Assani Berkeley also had a 75-yard kick off return for a touchdown.

Mark Rodriguez rushed for two more scores and had three completions for 69 yards with two interceptions — one on a Hail Mary as time expired.

The Royals were outscored 20-7 in the final quarter after staking a 38-28 lead through three.

Mission Prep returned to 11-man football this season after winning the 8-man championship last year.

This story was originally published November 16, 2019 at 1:11 AM.