NCS football playoffs roundup: Maria Carrillo falls to Concord 26-21

Concord rallied to take the lead in the opening minute of the fourth quarter and then held off visiting Maria Carrillo for a 26-21 victory in an NCS Division 2 football game Saturday night.

The Minutemen trailed 21-20 when quarterback Nick Nunez threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Leandre Jones with 11:04 remaining in the game. The two-point conversion failed.

The Pumas were able to penetrate Concord territory once after that but were unable to convert on fourth down.

Following a Concord punt with 2:30 remaining, Carrillo had one more chance. That drive also ended with a fourth down failure.

'We tried a double pass,' coach Jay Higgins said. 'I thought there should've been a pass interference call but there was no flag.

'The kids played a heckuva game. They tried really hard. It was an even fight and Concord is a good team. We just needed a break or two to go our way.'

Josh Groesbeck scored on a 3-yard run with 4:14 left in the third quarter and kicker Sean Nagle's extra point made it 21-20.

Groesbeck ran the ball 29 times for 135 yards and that averages out to 4.7 yards per carry.

Cole Martin and Max Wright scored the other Carrillo touchdowns.

No. 6 seed Carrillo ends the season 7-5. No. 3 Concord plays on with an 8-4 record.

ST. BERNARD ACADEMY 25, MIDDLETOWN 14

At Eureka, the Mustangs' season of adversity came to an end as they lost the quarterfinal Division 5 game.

'We overcame the fire and a lot of injuries to get as far as we did,' coach Bill Foltmer said. 'The kids played hard all year and I'm proud of them.'

The final score isn't indicative of how close this game was. The Mustangs led, 14-9, in the third quarter.

The key sequence came early in the fourth quarter with Middletown trailing 19-14, but in position to take the lead. However, the drive stalled at the St. Bernard 2.

The Crusaders (10-1) got the ball and on a dive play, the runner broke free for 60 yards. Several plays later, Jack Rice scored to make the score, 25-14.