RENO – It had to end eventually.
As dominant as Reed’s football program has become, it was not going to win every 4A North title until the end of time – although over the run of five-straight regional titles, it grew increasingly challenging to imagine the Raiders losing.
It was especially difficult to see them going down in Friday night’s 4A North title game against Damonte Ranch, at McQueen, after jumping out to a 31-7 halftime lead. But they did, somehow, 49-45.
Ballgame. Damonte 49, Reed 45
Mustangs come back from down 31-7 at the half to end Raiders’ run of five straight North titles. A classic.
— Nathan Shoup (@Trib_Shoup) November 19, 2016
Damonte Ranch (12-1) scored 21 points in the first six minutes of the third quarter, morphed three second-half takeaways into 14 points, and outscored the Raiders 42-14 out of the locker room to win the first regional title in program history.
Not only did the loss end Reed’s run of regional titles, it bookended a 26-game winning streak against 4A North competition, a 20-game regional tournament winning streak, and an 11-game winning streak this season.
“This moment, all you can do at the end of the season is start thinking about your seniors,” a somber Reed coach Ernie Howren said. “You think about the four years these guys have put in, all the things they’ve done for us to make us the program we are right now.”
After their advantage was cut to three for the third time in the second half, 45-42 with 5:16 left, the Raiders (11-2) were set to receive and could’ve likely put the game away with a touchdown drive. Nope. Fumble.
Damonte hopped on it at the 27 and eight plays later, sophomore quarterback Cade McNamara accounted for his fifth and final touchdown. His four-yard run with 2:37 left gave the Mustangs their first lead of the night, 49-45.
The score was set up on the previous play. On fourth and two from the nine, Cameron Sandoval picked up five yards around the left edge, down to the 4.
Damonte Ranch coach Shawn Dupris said attempting the game-tying field goal didn’t even cross his mind.
“Not at all, not at all,” he said. “We generally go for it all the time. I think we’ve attempted two field goals all year. That’s what we do.”
With all three timeouts, Reed marched to the Damonte 32 with 25 seconds left. The drive, the season and the regional title run ended with Bryson Toles intercepting junior quarterback Cameron Emerson at the 5.
Toles intercepts Emerson at the 5. It’s over. The streak is over.
— Nathan Shoup (@Trib_Shoup) November 19, 2016
It was the lone blemish on an otherwise stellar night for Emerson, who went back and forth with McNamara throughout. Emerson completed 14-of-18 passes for 301 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for 145 yards and a score on 12 carries.
He alone accounted for 446 of Reed’s 613 yards of offense, compared to Damonte’s 442 – 292 of which came after the half. Both teams ran 61 plays.
When asked what swung the game, Howren quickly pointed to the turnovers. The first, a fumble, spurred Damonte’s 21-0 run early in the third, and the second, another fumble, led to the game-winning touchdown.
“The fumbles … You can’t turn the ball over,” Howren said. “That’s the key.”
Both squads traded touchdowns after Damonte pulled within 31-28 until the Raiders fumbled the kickoff late in the fourth.
The start to the second half was as close to the exact opposite as it gets for the Mustangs, who found themselves down 24 at the break.
“I just said ‘don’t quit,’” Dupris recalled of his halftime talk that obviously worked. “We knew we could move the ball. The defense was playing hard. Hands down to Reed, they’re a hell of a football team, a hell of a program, but I just told them ‘keep playing, don’t end it like this.’”
The Raiders grabbed a 24-0 lead with 5:46 left in the first half when Robert Ferrel took a swing pass 29 yards. Ferrel finished with 167 yards receiving and two touchdowns on 12 receptions in his final game donning a Reed uniform.
Damonte answered with its first scoring drive of the night, ending with a three-yard Derrick Knoblach touchdown run.
Reed immediately pushed the gap back to four scores with a nine-play, 68-yard drive that concluded with a one-yard Emerson keeper with just 16 seconds remaining.
It’s now onto the state semifinals for Damonte Ranch, next Saturday, against Liberty (11-1). That game will also be played at McQueen.
For the Raiders, it’s on to the offseason. There will not be post-Thanksgiving football.
It had to end eventually.
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