Martinez leads Mustangs to come-from-behind playoff win

Gerard Martinez threw for 299 yards and four touchdown passes to lead The Meadows (9-2) to a 28-27 win over visiting Needles (Calif.) in the Class 2A Southern League playoffs on Saturday.

Remington Ross’s second touchdown reception of the game came on a 20-yard pass from Martinez on the first play of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 27. Dylan Lee’s extra point sealed the victory.

Needles (7-3) led 27-7 with 9:43 left in the third quarter, and failed to pick up a first down in its last four possessions.

“We kept going and I thought they ran out of gas,” The Meadows coach Frank DeSantis said. “Our guys just didn’t quit.”

The Meadows’ Pat Kenny had 102 yards of offense, including a 24-yard touchdown pass from Martinez.  He also led the defense with eight tackles.

“They came out strong and harder than we did, but the third quarter is our quarter. We came out after the half and dominated,” Kenny said.

Austin Brown led all receivers with 131 yards including a 35-yard score for The Meadows.

Stevie Kidd opened the game with an 85-yard kickoff return for Needles. Kidd added a 10-yard scoring run in the second quarter.

Needles’ Darra Russell had touchdown receptions of 55 and 12 yards.