LAWNDALE<< The Hawthorne football team leaned on the defense in Friday’s CIF-Southern Section Division 14 first-round game.
The Cougars’ defense stopped the Anaheim offense on their last three drives and the Cougas (5-6) held on for a 22-20 home win. The game was played at Lawndale High.
“We told our boys, either make history or be history” Cougars coach Corey Thedford said. “This game was amazing just to see the guys knuckle down and fight for what they want.”
Daniel Ibe came up with the final stop on fourth-and-two at Hawthorne’s 19-yard line, with 15 seconds remaining to seal the win.
“I had to go with my instinct,” Ibe said. “I looked around, same thing happened like last year, it was a close game and I had to give it my all, give it my full best.”
Hawthorne will visit El Monte in the quarterfinals Friday. El Monte defeated Bishop Montgomery 56-50 in a first-round game.
Zameere Medina came up with another big play for the defense, blocking a potential go-ahead field goal with five minutes remaining.
“It was really just my seniors,” Medina said. “My teammates that are not able to play right now, I wanted to give them another week to look forward to.”
Later, Obie Brown came up with a key interception with 2:30 left for the Cougars. Brown, who also started at quarterback on offense for the Cougars, was responsible for all three of the touchdowns, throwing two touchdown passes and rushing for another.
“It was just about my teammates,” he said. “I’m out here fighting for my boys, for them to get another game, and that’s what we did. We had to execute and that’s what we did.”
Brown’s 40-yard touchdown pass to Medina in the third quarter gave the Cougars a 22-6 lead.
The Colonists (5-6) would respond on the next drive, ending with MJ Fernandez’s 75-yard touchdown pass to Armando Torres, making it 22-12.
With 1:29 left in the third quarter, Diego Benitez scored for Anaheim and added the two-point conversion making it 22-20, but that was close as Anaheim would get.
“We don’t focus on what everyone says we can’t do,” Thedford said. “We focus on those who love and support us and push us, this is why Hawthorne.”
