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Football: Centennial can’t overcome early miscues

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This was not the ending Corona Centennial head coach Matt Logan had envisioned for his team.

The Huskies arrived at Home Depot Center as heavy favorites going into Friday night’s CIF Division I state bowl game against Palo Alto. They left feeling they had missed a golden opportunity to punctuate a stellar season after a stunning 15-13 defeat to the Central Coast Section Open Division champions.

‘It wasn’t our night... from the bus ride to everything after that,’ said Logan, who wore his customary shorts even in the rain. ‘The weather may have affected us, but I’m not making any excuses. We all had to play in this stuff. We prepared for what they had, we just didn’t execute.’

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Centennial (14-1) suffered through a penalty-marred, mistake-filled first half during which it was held scoreless for the first time all season. Despite shutting out the Vikings (14-0) in the final two quarters, Centennial could only muster two touchdowns before Ezequiel Rivera‘s 42-yard field goal attempt was wide right with 30 seconds left.

‘It’s heartbreaking to see it not go through but he’s my brother--I love him,’ said Centennial’s senior quarterback Michael Eubank, who completed 10 of 20 passes for 111 yards and rushed 16 times for 164 yards, including the Huskies’ final touchdown on a 33-yard run with 4:14 left. ‘I didn’t make a lot of the plays I needed to make, either.’

Barrinton Collins was sidelined with a concussion late in the second quarter and didn’t return. He lost two fumbles in the first half, winding up with 101 yards in 17 carries. Romello Goodman proved just as effective, running 17 times for 101 yards to spark the Southern Section Inland Division winners.

Centennial outgained Palo Alto 460 yards to 289 but the Huskies’ inability to score twice from inside the opponents’ five-yard line and having a touchdown nullified by a penalty cost them in the end.

-- Steve Galluzzo

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