High school football roundup: Oaks Christian reaches semifinals; Fillmore falls on road
Quarterback Cole Tannenbaum ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as Oaks Christian handed host Riverside-J.W. North its first loss of the season with a 24-21 victory in a CIF-Southern Section Division 5 quarterfinal football game Friday night.
Oaks Christian (6-6) will host El Modena in this Friday’s semifinals.
“We wanted to be better in November than we were in August,” Oaks Christian head coach Charlie Collins said. “It speaks to the resilience of our young kids.
“We got better every week. We got better even when we lost. … We went into that game confident because we knew we had played a tough schedule.”
Oaks Christian built a 10-7 halftime lead on Aidan Flintoft’s 23-yard field goal, Tannenbaum’s 57-yard scoring strike to Khari Butler and a pivotal defensive stop at the end of the second quarter.
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Tannenbaum extended the lead to 17-7 and 24-14 with short touchdown runs early in the third and fourth quarters, respectively.
Running back Venasio Mikaele pulled North within 24-21 with 7:39 to play, but the Lions defense made the score hold up.
Oaks Christian was without star running back Johnny Thompson, who ran for 259 yards in the first-round win over Pacifica.
Salesian 31, Fillmore 21
Running back Anthony Chessani had 182 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown and quarterback Joey Holladay threw for three touchdowns, but the Flashes came up short in a back-and-forth CIF-SS Division 10 quarterfinal in Los Angeles.
“They played their hearts out,” said Fillmore head coach Charlie Weis. “I would not be surprised if Salesian wins the whole thing.”
In a tight game that featured five lead changes, the biggest moment came midway through the fourth quarter.
Trailing 24-21, Fillmore was threatening to retake the lead when senior quarterback Joey Holladay broke his throwing hand on a helmet while delivering a pass.
“On a beautiful 26-yard pass to Chessani as we were driving down,” said Weis. “He tried to tough it out and play for this teammates and finish the season strong … but just couldn’t grip the ball.”
Fillmore took a 14-10 lead on Holladay’s 26-yard TD passes to Chessani and a 34-yard TD pass to Jarod Uridel.
Down 17-14, Fillmore retook the lead, 21-17, with 50 seconds left in the third quarter on Holladay’s 10-yard TD pass to Jathan Magana, which was set up by a Chessani interception.
Salesian took the lead for good with eight minutes to play.
Chessani completed a standout junior season by running for 108 yards on 17 carries and caught five passes for 74 yards.
Holladay, one of the Flashes’ 16 seniors, completed 9 of 17 passes for 128 yards. He was sacked four times.
Salesian was led by quarterback Marcus Martin, who completed 23 of 29 passes for 301 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
“They were bummed to lose,” Weis said. “But I think they all recognize that they made a profound impact on the program moving forward.”
Joe Curley covers high school, collegiate and professional football for the Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage of local high school sports, follow @vcspreps on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Football roundup: Oaks Christian reaches semis; Fillmore falls on road
