Northwood seniors with first-year head coach Stephen Barbee (fourth from left) after Friday’s loss to Moreno Valley. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
It was looking promising for Northwood’s football team in the opening minutes of Friday’s CIF Division 9 quarterfinal game against Moreno Valley at Portola.
The Timberwolves jumped out to a 10-0 lead but Moreno Valley behind the running of junior back Johnny Robinson, captured a 42-23 victory to advance into the semifinals Friday at home against Compton.
Robinson was virtually unstoppable behind some outstanding blocking, rushing for 390 yards and four touchdowns, including scampers of 79 and 74 yards. The last score put Moreno Valley (7-5) up 42-23 with 2:36 left in the game.
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“We came out and were able to score some points on them kind of early and Moreno Valley is a really good team and they got two touchdowns before half and were able to break a few runs,” Northwood Coach Stephen Barbee said. “I’m real happy with my team honestly fighting the whole way. We controlled the ball the whole fourth quarter almost. This team has dealt with so much adversity over the year with injuries and guys having to step up.
“It was honestly a trademark game of continuing to fight, being able to score, get an onside kick and continue to drive. Unfortunately we didn’t get the fourth down in the red zone at the end of the game but I couldn’t be more proud of my team. But hats off to Moreno Valley, I wish them nothing but the best. They have a very good team.”
Northwood was led by senior quarterback Caden Jacobs, who completed 12 of 25 passes for 196 yards and two touchdown passes with one interception. He also rushed for 33 yards. Sophomore Michael Barbee, the son of the head coach, had five catches for 55 yards and Elliot Kwon had three catches for 37 yards.
Jacobs and his teammates had to be excited at their team’s start.
On the opening kickoff, Bert Chubb returned the ball 56 yards to put the Timberwolves in scoring position. Dillan Low later made a 37-yard field goal to give Northwood a 3-0 lead.
Northwood then cashed in a Moreno Valley turnover on the next possession following a high snap to the punter on fourth down. The Timberwolves recovered on the Moreno Valley 17-yard line. Five plays later Luke Paez scored on a 6-yard TD run to give Northwood a 10-0 lead.
But in the second quarter, Robinson scored on a 2-yard TD run. Moreno Valley missed a 30-yard field goal on its next possession but late in the second quarter quarterback William Davis connected with Brae-onn Matthews on a 65-yard scoring striking to put the VIkings ahead 14-10.
In the third quarter, Robinson had two more TDs to extend the Moreno Valley lead to 28-10.
Jacobs connected with Chubb on a 65-yard TD pass to cut the lead to 28-17 with 7:33 left in the third quarter.
But Ricky Jaramillo countered with a 2-yard TD run for Moreno Valley to put the Vikings ahead 35-17.
Jacobs hit Jourdan Garcia on an 8-yard TD pass with 6:40 remaining. The Timberwolves missed the two-point conversion.
Northwood then recovered an onside kick but the drive stalled and Robinson capped the win with his fourth TD.
“I couldn’t have {done} it without my O-line,” said Robinson, who had rushed for 268 yards earlier this year. “I just had to do what I had to do what I came here to do, executed the mission and got out here with the win.”
Moreno Valley Coach Ben Benitez said the football staff will review the game tapes and tally the official yards for Robinson. But he believes it’s a school record, surpassing the previous school record of 377 in 1997.
“He’s a dude, I know our record looks kind of crazy, but we missed him for seven games,” Benitez said. “He injured his thumb on the second play of the season. He came back and saved us.”
“Shout out to the guys, we go down 10-0 and had some adversity in the first quarter and they didn’t shake, they stayed focused. After that two series when we were down 10-0, we come storming back ….. shout out to the boys, I’m proud of them.”
It’s the fourth time that Moreno Valley has reached the semifinals.
While Moreno Valley was celebrating, Northwood players were trying to cope with the loss. Many were in tears as the coaches told them how proud they were of them as rain fell.
“We will be in the off-season lifting come Monday,” Barbee said. “It’s a good start and again couldn’t be more proud of our kids. We went through a lot, we had some really good signature wins and I’m extremely proud of this group. We only had four seniors who were playing, our whole team is mostly comprised mostly of freshmen, sophomores and juniors.”
Barbee said he’s enjoyed his first year, which included a come-from-behind 16-15 victory over Liberty in the first round.
“It’s only a mile from my house and my son is on the team,” Barbee said.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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