As a light drizzle began to fall on the turf in a 1A Round of 12 matchup at Tiger Stadium in Centralia on Saturday, it looked like Rochester’s season was coming to an end.
Ethan Rodriguez had just come up short on a fourth down, and Omak took over with three minutes remaining in the game.
Then, a lifeline. On the next play, in the midst of several bodies near the line of scrimmage, the ball popped free, and Dominic Delgado jumped on the loose ball. Rochester’s sideline exploded, and the Warriors took over inside the Omak 30.
Just as suddenly as it appeared that Rochester was going to pull out a win, an interception by Omak’s Teagun Haigh ended it.
Final score: No. 11 Omak 14, No. 6 Rochester 12.
“Gut wrenching, exciting, and gut wrenching,” Rochester coach AJ Easley said. “As low as you can get, as high as you can get, then back down in the other direction.”
As the Pioneers celebrated their victory and quarterfinal berth on the other end of the field, the Warriors somberly shared their end-of-season hugs and were left wondering what went wrong in the game’s final moments.
After the fumble recovery, the Warriors took over at the Omak 29 with 2:16 to play, but they had just one timeout left because they had to burn two timeouts earlier in the half.
“That kinda hurt,” Easley said.
Rochester was able to convert a fourth and seven moments later when Easton Singleton hit Rodriguez on a corner route out of the backfield. Rodriguez made the sliding grab without a defender in his vicinity.
With time running down, Easley and his staff were weighing their options. Rodriguez was visibly tired on the field and could have used a breather, but Easley opted to save the timeout for a potential game-winning field goal attempt.
The main focus before a possible kick was to get the ball in the end zone, and with 19 seconds left, Rochester dialed up the same pass play that moved the chains minutes before.
This time, Haigh wasn’t fooled, and he undercut the route and came away with the clinching interception.
“Our passing game is kind of a sneaky passing game,” Easley said. “We surprised them on the last one. I just don’t think they were surprised … You’re gonna give your athletes a chance to make a play, and their guy made a better one.”
Rodriguez finished with 113 yards, and two touchdowns, and he should have gotten a two-point conversion on his first touchdown.
Rodriguez bounced outside and went airborne to hit the pylon, but the referee ruled that he was out of bounds before the ball crossed the plane.
The no good call on the field stood, and Rochester’s second two-point try later in the game was also stuffed. Of the game’s four touchdowns, the only successful conversion came on Omak’s second, which gave the Pioneers the lead with 7:44 to play.
Rochester’s next drive was the one that ended up with the turnover on downs prior to the two final turnovers.
In addition to Rodriguez, Maddox Rodgers tallied 101 yards on 17 carries, and Xander Peterman finished with 23 rushing yards. As a team, the Warriors finished with 247 yards on the ground.
The Pioneers had the size up front to make things difficult in the interior, but Rodriguez and Rodgers were able to find success on runs outside the tackles.
It was the final game for Rodriguez, Peterman, and 10 other seniors. It’s a group that finished its senior campaign 8-3, helped the Warriors reach the state tournament for the first time since 2002, and also won its first league title since 1999 last season.
“The things they’ve done since they’ve been here, they’ve completely changed this program,” Easley said. “We always talk about leaving a legacy and leaving things better than they were when you got here. They have definitely done that. I appreciate all their hard work.
“My guess is about 40 guys in there that are coming back next year that aren’t satisfied with this,” Easley added. “Hopefully, we can build on this year.”
