Reed runs rampant in Del Sol victory

Dezerick Reed might not be the fastest running back in town, and he’s not the biggest, either.

But no defense was going to stop the Del Sol senior on Friday night.

Reed rushed for 93 yards in the fourth quarter and scored two touchdowns late as the fifth-ranked Dragons (4-0, 1-0 Southeast League) rallied for a 21-14 win over visiting Foothill.

“I wasn’t letting my team get down,” Reed said. “I let my team know that we worked too hard for this. We worked too hard to lose. We kept fighting until the end. That’s what Del Sol does.”

The Falcons (2-2, 0-1) led 14-7 midway through the fourth quarter when Reed came through with the game’s biggest play.

The 203-pound back charged straight ahead, running through one tackle and juking another defender near the line of scrimmage before outrunning the defense for a 38-yard TD run that cut the lead to 14-13.

Del Sol coach Preston Goroff chose to go for two, and Reed plowed straight ahead again to put the Dragons up 15-14 with 6:01 to play.

“The way we were moving the ball, I just wasn’t confident in our offense,” Goroff said. “I figured three yards, you’ve got a 50-50 shot at it, and why not. No guts, no glory.”

Reed said the decision to go for two wasn’t surprising.

“We always go for the win, never the tie,” he said. “We always go for the win, and we always stay on top.”

Foothill had a final chance, getting the ball back at its 5 with 27.8 seconds remaining.

On third-and-8 from the 26, quarterback Parker Riggin completed a pass to Darius Gates, who advanced the ball to the 35 before the Falcons started a series of desperation laterals.

One of those laterals went awry, and Reed scooped the ball up at the 40 and returned it for a touchdown on the game’s final play.

Reed finished with 199 yards on 26 carries but was most effective in the fourth quarter.

“The line finally figured out that we ain’t losing this game,” Reed said. “They finally wanted to work hard, came out fighting and got the job done.”

Foothill struck first, scoring on the first play of the second quarter when Riggin tossed a short pass to running back Connor Afoa.
Afoa sprinted down the sideline, steamrolled a tackler at the 5 and dived across the line for a 44-yard TD catch to put the Falcons up 6-0 with 11:47 left in the half.

Del Sol answered on the ensuing possession, driving 63 yards on six plays, capped by a 27-yard TD pass from Troy Miller to a leaping Evan Weinstock. Jose Dominguez hit the extra point, and the Dragons led 7-6 at halftime.

Foothill took the lead when Riggin teamed with Mikie Charlton on a 19-yard TD pass. Riggin then hit F.J. Funtila on the two-point conversion to make the score 14-7 with 4.5 seconds left in the third quarter.