Font ResizeThe Terra Nova High football team woke up just in time. Dominated for three quarters, the Tigers rallied from a 17-point deficit in a frantic final period to stun visiting Live Oak in a Central Coast Section Division III quarterfinal in Pacifica.
Terra Nova's Jake Barradas (120 yards on six catches, three TDs) hauled in two long touchdown passes from Carl Cox in the final seven minutes, and the top-seeded Tigers escaped with a wild 28-24 victory on Friday night. Terra Nova (8-3) used its eighth straight win to advance to the semifinals, where it meets the winner of tonight's No. 4 seed San Mateo vs. fifth-seeded North Monterey County.
"I don't remember," said Barradas when asked to point to a turning point in the Tigers' first playoff win since 2005. "It's all a blur."
When No. 8 seed Live Oak (4-7) took a 24-7 lead behind Jacob Montoya's 21-yard field goal with 10 seconds left in the third quarter, Terra Nova appeared finished.
In the third quarter alone, the Tigers had fallen victim to a halfback pass for a touchdown on third-and-goal from the 11, and then fumbled away the ball for a 32-yard loss on a bad snap from the Acorns' 7.
But after completing game-winning drives on its final possession against Woodside and Half Moon Bay in the last three weeks, Terra Nova didn't panic. A 12-yard TD run by Cox and conversion pass with 10:15 left got the comeback started.
Terra Nova's Anthony Capitulo blocked a punt, but then the
The Tigers forced a punt after Live Oak's first three-and-out, and then Cox engineered the winning 59-yard drive in 2½ minutes. Cox rifled a 34-yard TD pass with 1:44 left to Barradas for the win.
