Warriors lose overtime football game in Brawley

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

Brawley High School won the Wildcats' Sept. 24 home football game against Fallbrook High School in overtime.

The score was 14-14 at the end of regulation, triggering the overtime in which each team was given a possession starting 25 yards from the end zone. Fallbrook was unsuccessful on the Warriors' possession, and Brawley scored on a three-yard run to finalize the score at 20-14.

"It was a competitive game," said Fallbrook head coach Troy Everhart. "They put one more in than we did."

The team bus left Fallbrook High School about 2:30 p.m. and arrived at Brawley High School about 7 p.m. The game had a 7:30 p.m. starting time. "We rolled off the bus and kicked off," Everhart said.

The team had about 20 minutes of practice before the game. The Sept. 24 thunderstorm met the Fallbrook travelers as they made the trip along Interstate 15 and Interstate 8, although there was no rain during the game itself. "It was a unique trip coming and going," Everhart said.

On the way to Brawley the team stopped at Buckman Springs to stretch and snack. "On the way home we drove straight through," Everhart said.

The bus returned to Fallbrook after 2 a.m. "I got into my house at 3:30 Saturday morning," Everhart said.

A regulation high school football game consists of four 12-minute quarters. In the first quarter sophomore Marquise Washington gave Fallbrook the initial lead with a 44-yard rushing touchdown, and senior Josh McBroom kicked the extra point. The Wildcats scored the next two touchdowns, both in the first quarter, to take a 14-7 lead. "They did a nice job of doing some stuff they hadn't done all year," Everhart said.

The Brawley touchdowns were on plays of 36 and 47 yards. "We just lacked a little bit of eye discipline," Everhart said.

The Wildcats would not score again until beginning the overtime possession on the 25-yard-line. "After that we pretty much shut them down," Everhart said.

"The last two weeks definitely we've been honed in," Everhart said. "They were out there making plays."

The game in Brawley included the return of two Fallbrook starters who missed games and practice due to exposure to those who tested positive for coronavirus. "It's just good to have those guys back," Everhart said.

Neither team scored in the second quarter. In the third quarter McBroom ran 11 yards on fourth down for the touchdown and then kicked the extra point to tie the game at 14-14. "Josh has got so much talent still untapped," Everhart said. "We've just got to do a better job of utilizing all of his skillset."

The fourth quarter was also scoreless. "We shot ourselves in the foot. We didn't execute very well," Everhart said.

When the clock expired Fallbrook had the ball inside the Brawley 40. "We were driving with a chance to go ahead," Everhart said.

Fallbrook had the first overtime possession but failed to obtain a first down. McBroom's field goal attempt was unsuccessful.

That gave Brawley the ball on the 25. "They had a play on the sideline, got it down to inside the five, and they drove it in," Everhart said.

The non-league loss gave Fallbrook a season record of 2-4.

"Offensively we're not able to adapt," Everhart said. "People make adjustments and we don't seem to be making very good ones ourselves."