Coronado secures first league win with upset of Green Valley

If there was one moment to illustrate that Friday was going to be Coronado’s night, it came late in the third quarter on a 48-yard field goal try by Gavin Wale.

Wale’s long kick thudded off the crossbar, and caromed through to push underdog Coronado’s lead to 12 points.

“I would say that field goal was pretty awesome,” Coronado coach Terry Riddle said. “That was the first field goal we’ve ever gone for where someone came up and said ‘I think it’s too far, Coach.’”

Though Green Valley rallied in the fourth quarter, the visiting Cougars held on to upset the No. 8 Gators, 28-21.

After losing 34-0 and being outgained 405-70 in its prior outing two weeks before, the likelihood of Coronado (3-3, 1-0 Southeast League) coming in and beating a team that was 5-1 seemed fairly remote.

But Riddle said he expected his squad to upend the Gators.

“The funny thing is, nobody thought we had a chance,” said Riddle, a Green Valley alumnus. “But the entire two weeks coming in, we knew we would win this game. The matchup was perfect for us. There was complete confidence for two weeks. No one even thought we would lose the game, honestly.”

Wale’s long field goal put Coronado ahead 26-14 with 1:46 to play in the third quarter.

Green Valley (5-2, 1-1) didn’t cut into the lead until Garrett Castro’s 14-yard pass to Bryson Bogues with 2:43 left in the fourth quarter made it 26-21.

Coronado ran the clock down on the ensuing possession — with a big assist from a pass interference penalty on a third-and-8 play — and punted away to the Gators with 11 seconds left, pinning them on their own 1-yard line.

Green Valley tossed an incomplete pass and then surrendered a safety to end the game.

Green Valley outgained the Cougars 371-178, but the Gators racked up 100 yards in penalties, and could only manage to get chunks of yards between the 20s. And Coronado’s defense consistently shut down drives without giving up points.

“We are a bend-don’t-break defense,” said Riddle, whose team won its third road game but is still winless at home. “From camp on to now, our whole goal has been to bend, don’t break.”

Said Coronado quarterback Keegan Tharp of the team’s defense: “They played lights out. They made it so easy for our offense. Without our defense making big stops, we would not be in this game.”

But the key moment for Tharp and the offense came on the Cougars’ first drive of the third quarter with Coronado nursing a two-point lead.

After attempting one pass to that point – and having only gained 185 passing yards through five games this season – Coronado came out firing through the air. Tharp connected on passes of 20 and 28 yards to Semaj Bolin before hooking up with Trey Goughnour on a 9-yard touchdown pass that increased the lead to 23-14 with 5:11 left in the quarter.

“We set them up perfectly in the first half with the double wing only with no throwing,” Tharp said. “Then we came out after the half and said ‘let’s see what happens.’

“On the first play, (Bolin) was wide open. So, we just kept coming back to it. With someone like Semaj, you just have to get the ball in his hands, and he will make plays.”

Andrew Olson provided the first big play for Coronado early on after the Cougars’ first drive of the game went 3-and-out.

On the ensuing punt, the Gators muffed it at their 15, and after a mad scramble for the ball, Olson recovered it in the end zone to give his team an early 7-0 lead they would never relinquish.

Matt Orlando added a 7-yard rushing score in the second quarter for the Cougars.

Castro threw for 184 yards and two scores for Green Valley. Noah Hawthorne had 23 carries for 172 yards and a score for the Gators.

“We all came together and realized this is one of our biggest rivals and this is the last time our seniors are going to play in this rivalry,” Tharp said. “So this game was for them. It was a great feeling.”