The562’s coverage of football in 2024-25 is sponsored by The Terry Donahue Memorial California Showcase.
The562’s coverage of Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family.
The party on the Westside came to an abrupt end on Friday night as the Artesia Pioneers stole the season opener in the final seconds to beat Cabrillo 29-26. Artesia’s senior quarterback Charlie Lopez won the game with a touchdown and two-point conversion with 17 seconds remaining.
“We had every opportunity to win this game,” said Cabrillo coach Shane Gonzales. “We are going to watch film, we are going to get better, we are going to learn from our mistakes. It hurts, it stings, [because our] guys played their asses off.”
The game started off like most season openers with jitters, mental mistakes, adrenaline and more miscues.
Artesia received the opening kick and early missed tackles allowed senior running back Oscar Canchola to get going. However, bad snaps killed the drive.
Cabrillo sophomore quarterback Fernando Leanos got the offense humming with an opening pass to tight end Israel Clayton up the seam for a healthy gain. Early miscommunications would force Leanos to use his legs and scramble to keep the drive alive. A pair of fourth down conversions near midfield gave the Jaguars momentum early. Then after a scramble for a first down, Leanos would find Keyon Smith on a fade for 25 yards. Pioneers blocked the PAT to keep it 6-0 with 39 seconds left in the first quarter.
Artesia’s second drive was long and methodical, chewing up half the quarter. Lopez would scramble for a first down on fourth and five at the 28, before capping off the drive with a 16-yard touchdown run. The Jaguars returned a blocked kick, and it was 6-6 with 5:13 remaining in the first half.
On the ensuing drive, Cabrillo’s Braylen White boosted the Jaguars with a nice return out to midfield. Leanos would find a slanting Smith as Cabrillo was knocking on Artesia’s red zone. With terrific clock management and some penalties to help, freshman running back Jaime Melendez shot up the middle with twelve seconds left to give Cabrillo the 12-6 lead going into half.
Jaguars wasted no time in the second half to score. With another solid return by White, Leanos connected with Clayton again for a 46-yard score. Cabrillo capped the drive off with a two point conversion to take the 20-6 lead with 10:25 left in the third quarter.
That’s when the Westside turned into a Wild Wild West shootout as the teams would go back and forth to score three times in under four minutes in consecutive possessions.
Artesia’s Lopez again found the end zone on a 23-yard keeper to make it 20-13 Cabrillo with 8:03 left.
On the next Jaguars possession, Leanos found senior wideout Isiah Miranda on a hitch, then Miranda would slip away from the defense and take it up the Cabrillo sideline for a 46-yard score to make it 26-13 with 6:54 left in the game.
Early in the fourth quarter on fourth and long, a circus catch by Artesia’s Ahkil Sampson would put his team at the two-yard line. Lopez would score the touchdown and two point conversion to make it a one score game, 26-21, with under ten minutes left.
Gonzales and staff knew it was critical to not only score, but control the clock as well. Ssenior running back Antonio Elam picked up a key first down for the Jaguars at Artesia’s 32. However, a bad snap and a sack pushed Jaguars back to their own 40, forcing them to punt with under four minutes left.
Artesia’s final drive started in Cabrillo’s favor, as two penalties pushed them back. Self-inflicted wounds, like missed tackles and penalties, and inexperience would be Cabrillo’s kryptonite.
“It is the same old stuff that costs us every time, ya know,” said Gonzales. “We jump offside on third and fourth down, it hurts us at the most crucial parts of the game. It is a momentum killer.”
With about a minute left, Lopez would explode for a huge run to the four yard line, and then he silenced the home crowd with the go-ahead touchdown with 17 seconds left. The successful two pointer put the Pioneers up 29-26.
On their own 45 with fourteen seconds left, Leanos scrambled and found Clayton on the backside, trying to make a mad dash to the end zone. But a shoe lace tackle stopped the Jaguars at the Artesia 31 as the clock expired for a 29-26 Artesia win.
“We got a lot of season left, a lot of games ahead of us,” said Gonzales. “We just gotta sure up our backups to make sure everyone is ready to go. We got a thin team, so everyone has to be ready to play.”
Next up for Cabrillo is a game against Los Angeles Jordan at home next Friday. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
