Palmdale makes history

RIALTO — As it turns out, the third time is a charm. But it wasn’t pretty for the Palmdale football team. The game had a total of 10 turnovers, more than 250 yards in total penalty yards, and overall sloppy play.

Still, it was one of the ugliest, best games of the season. And, in the end, the Falcons won the school’s first ever CIF-Southern Section championship with a thrilling 45-43 victory over host Carter in the Division 12 title game, on a chilly, windy, Friday night at Carter High School. “We just told the boys to keep fighting.



We’ve been through a lot of adversity,” Palmdale head coach Anthony Coleman said. “But I told the boys to go win it on defense. We’ve been in a lot of tight games this season, so we understand this.

” Things got really interesting in the fourth quarter. Palmdale’s (9-5) offense hit a stalemate in the second half until it finally broke through. The Falcons trailed 37-30 in the fourth quarter with five minutes in before Joshua Suarez connected with Christian Connoly from 12 yards out to cut the lead to 37-36.

Coleman opted to go for two and it was successful, giving the Falcons a 38-37 lead with 7:44 remaining. Suarez finished the game 13-of-24 for 152 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Elleyon Clark had 151 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns.

On the first play on the Lions’ (9-4) next possession, quarterback Ryder Carson was picked off by Palmdale’s Paul Turner, who sprinted 30 yards up the Carter sideline for the score. That gave the Falcons a 45-37 lead with 7:32 left. “We just continue to push through adversity,” Suarez said.

“At the end of the day, we kept fighting and we executed. It shows on the scoreboard. “All the hard work we put in has paid off.

We got this ring, and it feels good.” The series of unfortunate events continued for Carter. On the ensuing kickoff, the Lions muff ended with turning the ball over for the fifth time, giving Palmdale the ball on the 23-yard line.

The Falcons drove to the 2-yard line, but on fourth-and-goal and an 8-point lead, Coleman opted to put the game on ice instead of potentially stretching the lead to 11 points. The try failed and the Lions took over on the 2-yard line. Two plays later, Carter’s Jordan McKinney scampered 96 yards in front of a shocked Palmdale crowd with 3:03 remaining, trimming the lead to 45-43.

Noah Esquivel dropped the 2-point attempt in the end zone, preserving the lead for Palmdale. “I wanted to go for the jugular,” Coleman said. “We had them pinned, and I said we can’t let him get loose.

But we were able to bring it home. Falcon Nation. This means the world.

” Palmdale recovered the onside kick and attempted to run out the clock. However, and botched snap, the Falcons’ fifth turnover, gave the Lions new life. Carter drove down to the 28-yard line with 2.

6 seconds remaining. Jayden Mendez, who missed an earlier field goal, had his attempt fall well short as the Falcons rushed the field in victory. “We had to lock in.

We knew we had to stop bs’ing and pick up our heads,” Clark said. “This feels so great. I’m just so excited.

” Palmdale lost its previous two CIF championship tries in 2003 and 2007..