Morro Bay headed to CIF-Central Section championship game after 29-26 thriller
Morro Bay won a 29-26 nail-biter on Friday against Pioneer Valley at home — and will now represent the Central Coast in the CIF-Central Section Division 6 championship game.
The Pirates, the last of San Luis Obispo County’s remaining 11-man playoff teams, won in dramatic fashion against a physical Panthers team that tried to overpower Morro Bay with the run.
Morro Bay junior quarterback Nicky Johnson connected with his top target on the night, Ethan Lisman, for a touchdown strike of about 18 yards with 5:30 left in the fourth quarter to give the Pirates a 27-26 lead.
Then running back Dylan Turner barreled his way into the end zone for a two-point conversation to give Morro Bay the three-point edge.
Morro Bay’s defense forced two clutch turnovers in the final minutes — a fumble recovery by senior Alexis Martinez after he made a hard-hitting tackle on a kickoff return, and an interception hauled in by junior Johnny Botello with 55 seconds remaining to clinch the win.
Morro Bay moves on to the Division 6 championship on the road against Taft High School of Kern County on Nov. 26.
“These guys have been working towards this for a long time, basically since spring ball last school year and all the way through until now,” said Pirates’ Coach Jake Goossen-Brown. “It’s really great for the community that really came out to support us, for the school, and most importantly these kids.”
Pioneer Valley of Santa Maria won just one game on the season as a Mountain League squad facing tough league competition in Arroyo Grande, Paso Robles and St. Joseph, among others.
Goossen-Brown said the Panthers are a “really well-coached team, a physical team, and it’s exciting for our program to get this opportunity to advance.”
The Pirates, No. 2 in the bracket, improved to 6-6 overall, and will move on to face the No. 1 seed in the final.
Scoring connections
Johnson and Lisman connected on two touchdown passes, along with several first-down passes on slant routes.
“Whenever I have to go scramble, he’s always right there,” Johnson said. “I look to find him and we can get a good connection. ... Everyone always follows Dylan (Turner) so they just have these openings for everyone else.”
Lisman set up the Pirates first score in the opening quarter when he nearly returned the kickoff for a touchdown before being taken down on the 3-yard line.
By halftime, Pioneer Valley had come back to take the lead, however, at 20-14.
Lisman said that with Pirates down by six at the half, he “loved what he saw in the locker room.”
“No one was giving up,” he said. “Everyone was still in it, and I love seeing that the team was just coming together. I have no idea when we were last in the championship as a school. So, this is a big step for us. And it’s gonna be a big step for us in the future.”
Morro Bay’s Christian Merrill hauled in two touchdown passes from Johnson, including an 11-yard completion to even the score 20-20.
“We had to make some adjustments and our kids stepped up and made plays when they needed to,” Goossen-Brown said. “It’s a great thing for these guys, for this community.”
Defense shines in final minutes
Morro Bay’s two defensive stars in the fourth quarter described the thrill of key plays down the stretch.
“I hit the return guy pretty hard and I just saw the ball loose while I was on the ground after I was blown back,” said Martinez of his fumble recovery. “As soon as I grabbed it, I started screaming.”
Goossen-Brown said that Botello, the smallest player on Morro Bay’s team in his first year playing football, missed an interception opportunity the week before that would have sealed the game.
But the junior defensive back was perfectly positioned to execute the pick on Friday against Pioneer Valley.
“I had to keep my head up,” Botello said. “We were playing prevent defense, and I just saw it all the way in. It felt great.”
The Pirates were the last of the 11-man football teams in SLO County to remain in the playoffs with four local teams falling in Nov. 12 action.
“The job’s not done yet, so we have to get prepared and we can’t just celebrate this one too hard,” Johnson said.
Coast Union
In 8-man football, Coast Union (9-2) is representing the Central Coast in a semifinal road game against Faith Baptist (8-2) on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Broncos are coming off of a 43-42 win over Hesperia Christian.
In Coast Union’s Nov. 12 game, Emi Peña rushed for 201 yards and a touchdown, passed for 215 yards, and made 14 solo tackles. Peña also forced a fumble in the end zone that was recovered by Coast Union for a safety.
Cesar Gomez caught passes for 108 yards and a touchdow, kicked the first field goal of the season for the Broncos, and made eight unassisted tackles.
This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 11:06 PM.
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