Coronado’s first half heroics not enough in loss to undefeated Silverado

For at least one half Friday night, Coronado seemed to be beating Silverado at its own game.

The host Cougars abandoned their pass-first approach and outrushed the ground-based Skyhawks on the way to seizing a 14-9 halftime lead.

But in the second half the Coronado ground game ground to a halt and Silverado’s defense took control.

The Skyhawk defense allowed just 66 yards in the second half, along with zero rushing yards and zero points, to rally Silverado to a 44-14 victory.

Defensive end Matt Hollen said Silverado’s renewed second-half focus on defense came down to the scoreboard.

“We were behind; it’s as simple as that. We had to come back,” said Hollen, who tackled Coronado’s punter in the end zone after a bad snap for a safety in the second quarter. “They had enough (points) the way it was. Fourteen was too much in my book.”

Hollen had two of the Skyhawks’ four second half sacks. Silverado also came up with two turnovers and a blocked punt that led to second-half touchdowns.

Quarterback Trent Tipton scored with 6:53 left in the third quarter on a 35-yard bootleg to the right side to give Silverado (5-0, 1-0 Southeast) the lead for good, 16-14. On the previous play, Sincere Hill recovered a fumble for the Skyhawks on a botched handoff by Coronado.

Parker Gibbons partially blocked a punt on the next Cougar possession, and Tipton scored six plays later on a 1-yard plunge to push the lead to 22-14.

Dariouse Gravely added an interception return for a touchdown to cap the game.

Terran Madu-Jules had 25 carries for 176 yards — close to his season average — and two touchdowns to lead the Silverado ground game.

But the Skyhawks had a pair of red-zone fumbles in the first half to kill drives, and the defense was on its heels as Coronado unveiled an effective running game that allowed them to outgain Silverado in the first half, 157-118.

“I give Coronado credit; they gave us fits in the first half,” Silverado coach Andy Ostolaza said. “We thought they’d come out passing the ball, but they ran the ball on us really effectively in the first half. It caught us off guard.”

Kentavius Hudson — who had 73 total rushing yards before the game — rushed for 115 yards in the first half for the Cougars. He also scored on a 4-yard pass reception in the first quarter to give them a 7-0 lead, and then a 1-yard run to give Coronado (2-2, 0-2) a 14-7 lead with 8:27 remaining in the second quarter.

After seeing his team start slow in the last two games, Ostolaza said the Skyhawks have to get off to a strong start next week when they host undefeated Del Sol.

“We picked it up in the second half tonight,” Ostolaza said, “but going down the stretch this is not going to work. It’s going to wind up hurting us.”