When the engine is sputtering, a little extra fuel can go a long way.
Jayden Virgin scored three touchdowns and the Mt. Carmel High defense did its job as the Sundevils rolled to a 34-10 victory Friday over Santana in a CIF Division III quarterfinal matchup.
“We were down a bit early on, so we had to push on the gas a little more,” said Virgin, a 230-pound senior.
Virgin scored on a pair of first-half touchdown runs of 16 and 5 yards before collecting a shovel from quarterback Cayden Gent for a 14-yard TD barely two minutes into the second half for a 20-3 Sundevil lead.
With the win, top-seeded Mt. Carmel (10-1) earned a home game for the semifinals on Nov. 19 when the Sundevils will host No. 4 seed Ramona, which routed previously unbeaten West Hills.
“We have an outstanding opponent coming to our place next week, and we have a lot to work on,” said Mt. Carmel coach Drew Westling, who in his first full season at the helm has guided the Sundevils to their first 10-win season since 1992.
No. 8 seed Santana finished its season at 8-3. The Sultans were kept out of the end zone until there were 16 seconds left in the contest, when sophomore quarterback Alex Rico connected with Logan Jorden on a 37-yard scoring .
Until that scoring play, Santana was held to 117 yards of total offense.
“All week we had a plan on what we would see, and we just executed,” said Mt. Carmel junior linebacker Aiden Smith, who had one interception and had another theft erased by a penalty.
Another junior linebacker, Ronald Pearcy, returned an interception 37 yards for a score which gave the hosts a 34-3 lead just 18 seconds after Hunter Ledesma scored on a 19-yard run midway through the fourth period.
“We were starting a lot of young guys tonight because of injuries,” said Santana coach Tim Estes, whose team was a 24-21 winner over Imperial in the first round of the playoffs. “Our guys played their butts off all year.”
A muffed snap by the Sundevils in punt formation led to the game’s first points, a 21-yard field goal by Jackson Scott which gave Santana an early 3-0 lead with just over five minutes elapsed in the first period.
Mt. Carmel took the lead following a Santana punt with a 36-yard completion from Gent to Conor Bananal setting up a 16-yard touchdown run around the right side by Virgin with 47 seconds remaining in the opening stanza.
Following another Sultans punt, the Sundevils fashioned a nine-play, 95-yard drive highlighted by a 37-yard scramble by Gent on a third-and-long play from his own 6-yard line. Four plays later, Virgin scored again from the 5 with seven minutes remaining in the second period.
Santana was limited to just 50 yards of total offense in the first half.
Gent, a senior southpaw, finished the game completing 12 of 18 es for 161 yards, putting him over 2,000 yards ing for the season.
The Sundevils were forced to overcome nine penalties for 119 yards.
Division III quarterfinals
Mt. Carmel 34, Santana 10
Santana 3 0 0 7 — 10
Mt. Carmel 6 7 7 14 — 34
S — FG Scott 21
MC — Virgin 16 run ( failed)
MC — Virgin 5 run (Kidanemariam kick)
MC — Virgin 14 from Gent (Kidanemariam kick)
MC — Ledesma 19 run (Kidanemariam kick)
MC — Pearcy 37 interception return (Kidanemariam kick)
S — Jorden 37 from Rico (Scott kick)
