Tiarra Del Rosario lifts Cimarron-Memorial past Centennial

With Cimarron-Memorial and Centennial going blow-for-blow in the first half, Tuesday’s game would come down to who played the better second half.

Advantage: Spartans.

Cimarron’s flag football team played a clean second half and got a rebound from sophomore quarterback Tiarra Del Rosario. After throwing two interceptions in the first half, she was perfect in the second, including a 48-yard touchdown pass to senior Alyssa Karpinski late in the game to help take down Centennial 35-26 at home.

“She threw a couple of funny passes,” Cimarron-Memorial coach Mark Bailey said of Del Rosario. “She was teetering, we thought we might lose her but we didn’t. She just buckled down.”

Del Rosario, who was 9-for-9 after halftime, was helped out by her go-to targets, Karpinski and senior Logan Delong, who combined for 16 catches for 181 yards. Karpinski had 11 catches for 121 yards.

“Everybody in the city knows it, we’re throwing to them every time.” Bailey said. “We have the two best receivers in the city and if you throw to them, we’re going to win. We’re going to beat anyone in this city.”

The difference in the second half was Del Rosario’s ability to take what the defense was giving her instead of forcing the ball downfield.

“In the second half instead of throwing into coverage she ran out of it. And she got some big runs,” Bailey said.

Del Rosario was 19-for-29 passing for 247 yards and four touchdowns and ran eight times for 49 yards and another touchdown.

Cimarron (11-2, 4-1 Northwest League) looked strong in the first half and appeared ready to take a 20-13 lead into the break with just one second left. But a 45-yard run from Centennial senior LeNae Thomas and an extra-point conversion tied the game at 20.

“That could’ve been a back-breaker,” Bailey said. “We just reminded our defense that we just have to keep it together.”

The Spartans’ defense also played a major role in regaining the momentum and icing the game in the final 30 minutes.

Centennial had its best chance with eight minutes left and driving. Down just 28-26, the Bulldogs thought they were about to take the lead on a pass but Cimarron junior Nancy De La Torre picked it off 1-yard line to end the drive.

The Spartans ran more than six minutes off the clock and scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive to seal the game.

“Obviously if they punch it in there it’s a totally different game,” Bailey said. “But Nancy pulls down that interception and that’s probably the play of the game.”

Contact reporter Bill Slane at bslane@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4559. Follow @bill_slane on Twitter.