NCS football playoffs: Rancho Cotate battles flu bug in 29-22 win against Eureka

When Rancho Cotate coach Ed Conroy addressed his players after the game Friday, part of his instructions involved hand sanitizer and washing everything in the kids' lockers that might have been contaminated by germs. As he spoke, coughs echoed through the half-circle assembled around him.

The No. 3-seeded Cougars had survived a nasty flu bug, and several key injuries, and a brisk breeze that threatened to thwart their passing game, and even a 14-0 deficit. None of that prevented Rancho from defeating No. 11 Eureka 29-22 in a North Coast Section Division 3 quarterfinal playoff game.

“I'm super proud of our team,” junior wide receiver and defensive back Logan Reese said. “I think it shows that we have a lot of strength that we can overcome adversity.”

The Cougars' A.J. Vallejos scored the winning touchdown with 2:39 left in the game when he took a bubble screen, started into the middle of the field then cut back to the left sideline, racing 57 yards to the end zone.

“It's too soon, damn it!” a Rancho Cotate coach yelled, eyeing the clock as players celebrated on the sidelines.

But the Rancho defense held. Eureka failed even to get a first down on its final possession. Defensive end Jakob Marshall came up with a sack. And when the Loggers completed a pass on fourth-and-13, Reese ran the receiver out of bounds after a short 4-yard gain.

The Cougars advance to play the winner of today's game between No. 2 seed Bishop O'Dowd and No. 7 Encinal, an afternoon contest that Conroy and his staff will get to scout in person.

It looked as though the Cougars might go on top earlier in the fourth quarter when they lined up for first-and-10 at the Eureka 12. But a pass glanced off the hand of Rancho Cotate's Ryan Matteri and into the arms of lanky Loggers defensive back Israel Tulmau, who returned the ball about 35 yards.

Then it was Eureka's turn to threaten. In fact, twice the Loggers appeared to take the lead. But one touchdown pass was called back on a holding penalty. And when the visitors connected on a hook-and-ladder play on a desperation fourth-and-17 snap, the lateral in the middle of the play was ruled to have been pitched forward.

That only made up for a third-quarter possession by Rancho Cotate on which Reese had two long touchdown receptions negated by penalties.

All in all, it was a strange night at The Ranch. In their first five possessions, the favored Cougars went three-and-out three times and once gave away the ball in Eureka territory on a fumble by Reese. Meanwhile, the Cougars' defense was having a hard time solving the Loggers' run game, which uses a lot of misdirection and some superb ball fakes by quarterback Tanner Bell.

It all added up to a 14-0 deficit for the home team just a couple minutes into the second quarter.

Eureka wound up rushing for 367 yards on the night, including 179 on 26 carries by halfback Sergio Manzo.

“Their offense, they're trying to outnumber you every time,” Conroy said. “We told our kids, you can't just take on a block, you have to get off a block. If everyone just takes on a block, they're gonna win. Get off and make a tackle and make plays.”

The Cougars kept fighting, as they had all week.

Conroy said a dozen of his players missed least a day of practice. Two key Cougars, center Kyle Luque and defensive end Tim Phuong, were too sick to play against the Loggers.

Making matters worse, Tanielu Guerrero, one of Rancho Cotate's top two-way players, tore the meniscus in his right knee in the playoff opener against Saint Mary's and is walking around on crutches. And then senior defensive back Ryan Phillips dislocated his shoulder against Eureka.

“We always tell the kids, everybody's got to be ready,” Conroy said. “You don't worry about it, you just get the next guy up. That's what they were all doing. Our center went down, we had to move our tackle to center. Then we had get another tackle in. It wasn't just like one shift, one guy. It was like a chess match trying to figure it all out.”

Fortunately for Conroy, he didn't lose his king. That's junior quarterback Jake Simmons, a junior with a big arm.

Simmons has been one of the Redwood Empire's top passers all season, but he found the going tough in the first half as a cold breeze came out of the southeast.

So Simmons used his feet more than usual and wound up with 127 rushing yards. And he finished with 228 passing yards, too, with Jaelen Ward turning a bubble screen into a 30-yard touchdown of his own.

“We prepared for heavy pass, kind of short passing game, all week,” Simmons said. “At halftime we really had to adjust, kind of like the defense did around the second quarter mark. Yeah, I wasn't expecting to run that much, but whenever I need to I'll try my best to get the job done.”

And so Conroy's career will extend at least another week.

The long-time coach has announced his retirement after the season concludes. His players are determined to send him out a section champion.

“We don't even treat him as a coach. We kind of treat him like a father,” Simmons said. “I really love Conroy so much. Actually, after the Newman game I kind of sat in the parking lot for a good two hours just sorry about how bad I was in that game. We all definitely want to get it for him.”

The Cougars lost to Cardinal Newman here in the North Bay League finale. But the playoffs have been a different matter.