R.J. Cellini was in trouble.

On third-and-10 from the Las Lomas 12-yard line with under 30 seconds on the clock in a tie game, Alhambra High School's senior quarterback rolled to his right. He had nowhere to go and nowhere to throw. The Las Lomas defense had the play bottled up.

So Cellini resorted to a highly uncharacteristic maneuver. He ran for it.

Cellini cut all the way back across the field to his left, turned upfield, took two big steps and launched his body — arms and ball extended — toward the goal line. He took a shot in the ribs for his effort, but the ball crossed the plane, and the Bulldogs eked out a 41-35 win over the visiting Knights to remain all alone atop the Diablo Foothill Athletic League standings.

"It's something I don't really do," Cellini said of the scamper-and-dive.

Alhambra (7-1, 4-0 DFAL) survived a relentless comeback by Las Lomas (2-5, 1-2), spearheaded by the feisty running of tailback Marquis Waters (25 carries, 172 yards, one TD) and the Lucas Gorton and Chase Herring aerial show. Gorton found Herring six times for 85 yards and three touchdowns, and twice more for 2-point conversions to rally the Knights from a 28-12 third-quarter deficit.

But in the end it was Cellini — arm and legs — who carried off the homecoming honors. Cellini completed 15 of 24 pass attempts for 271 yards, the largest passing total of his high school career.

"Oh, by far," said Cellini, who

Advertisement
also found Trevor Davis for two touchdowns. "This is the best night of my life."

Alhambra star running back Ritchie Calhoun quietly amassed 170 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries, including six for 46 on the winning drive.

Campolindo 28, Dublin 21: With no timeouts remaining, Jalan Rodgers' quarterback sneak was stopped by the visiting Cougars' defense as time expired in the fourth quarter, foiling the Dons' upset bid in the DFAL contest.

Rodgers was the key on the final drive for Dublin (2-5, 1-2), throwing for 39 yards and being aided by two roughing-the-passer penalties.

Quarterback Tommy Stephens scored the winning touchdown on a 1-yard sneak with 1:22 left for Campolindo (4-4, 2-2). Stephens threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns.

Stephens' touchdown run capped a Dons rally from a 21-7 halftime deficit. Josh Burks' 80-yard scoring run late in the third quarter tied the contest until Stephens' heroics.

— Roger Lett, correspondent

Terra Nova 17, Woodside 14: Sophomore Chris Forbes, playing quarterback in place of injured standout Carl Cox, scored on a 1-yard run with 2:10 left as Terra Nova (4-3, 3-0) held off an upset bid by winless Woodside in a Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division game.

Forbes completed 12 of 23 passes for 160 yards and threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Jake Barradas in the first quarter. He also rushed for 101 yards on 15 carries.

Woodside (0-7, 0-2) drove the length of the field in the final two minutes on the strength of six straight completions by Kenya Price. But the Wildcats turned down the opportunity for a tying 27-yard field goal with 1.4 seconds, but Price'sd pass to C.J. Cockrum was overthrown in the end zone.

— Richard Motroni, correspondent

Edison-Stockton 22, West 21: Ranolph Bianche pulled in a two-point conversion pass from Edward Chavez with 1:37 left in the game to give Edison the one-point Tri-City Athletic league win.

West (1-6, 0-2 TCAL) took a 14-0 halftime lead on a 7-yard run by Dexter Alcala and an 8-yard pass from Jake Peterson to Darin Fleming. Peterson added a 60-yard scoring toss to Will Kaigler in the second half.

But with standout Dexter Alcala on the bench in the second half due to an injury, the Vikings (4-3, 2-0) were able to handle the Wolf Pack offense in the second half.

— Dave Campbell, correspondent

Tracy 55, Chavez-Stockton 36: Jordan Strong scored three first half touchdowns for Tracy in San Joaquin Athletic Association action at Wayne Schneider Stadium.

Strong (12 carries, 73 yards) scored on runs of 1 yard, 3 and 15 yards to help the Bulldogs (6-0, 2-0 SJAA) out to a 41-7 halftime lead. Depray Celestine hauled in a 43-yard scoring pass from Casey Wichman (3-for-5, 112 yards passing), Brock Soares returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown and Ricky Diaz (six carries, 81 yards) darted 3yards for a touchdown to round out the first-half Tracy scoring barrage.

Celestine added a 23-yard touchdown run and Strong one from 15 before Chavez (1-6, 1-1) scored the game's final four touchdowns.

Niles Villalobos found Marcus Cheatam with a 46-yard scoring pass to get the Titans (1-6, 1-1) on the board.

— Heather Campbell, correspondent