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CIF Football: Millikan Escapes Barstow With First Quarterfinal Win Since 1980
Barstow, California, has never been a place people are particularly sad to leave, but the Millikan football team had more reason than most to celebrate its departure Friday night.
On their second straight long road trip, the Rams made the one-night, 242-mile round trip to face Barstow on Friday night in the CIF-SS Division 7 playoffs and left with a piece of program history. The Rams put together yet another full-team effort in a 42-35 win, marking Millikan’s first quarterfinal victory since 1980.
“Man, it’s awesome,” said Millikan coach Romeo Pellum of the accomplishment. “If you were here to watch the game, you’d see we left points on the board, which is unfortunate, but we just found a way to win. These guys are resilient. I feel like when the team that I know we have shows up, we can beat anyone. It’s history for us, and it’s a milestone for me in my coaching career. But we’ve made it this far, so why stop?”
It’d be nearly impossible to pinpoint a single player who made the difference on Friday night. Defensively, Millikan had an incredible performance from junior defensive lineman Toloai Toloai, who was among several players to record sacks and tackles for loss, while Jojo Williams and Gabriel Reichard both came up with turnovers for the Rams.
On offense, sophomore quarterback Jonah Tuaniga led a balanced attack, going 13-for-18 for 220 yards and four passing touchdowns to three different receivers. On the other side of the balance beam was junior running back Ryan Carter, who carried the ball 29 times for 143 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
“I think all it took was just execution,” Tuaniga said after the game. “It was all our practice this week that got us prepared for today. As Rome said this week, he told us to come on that timing today, and I think we came on that timing.”
Millikan had a tough task in front of it against defending CIF-SS Division 7 champion Barstow, which is led by dual-threat quarterback Jarvis Applewhite. The senior has led the team in both passing and rushing this season and did so again on Friday night, going 18-for-33 for 226 passing yards and two touchdowns while carrying the ball 20 times for 129 yards and three additional touchdowns.
Applewhite got Barstow right to work on the Aztecs’ opening drive, leading a 12-play, four-minute possession that ended in his first rushing touchdown of the game. Barstow kept it on the ground with running back Alton Agulto, who carried the ball five times on the drive to give the Aztecs an early one-touchdown lead.
Millikan immediately responded on its opening drive, also leaning on the ground game with Carter. Tuaniga found junior Aden Taufa for a big third-down pickup before dropping back and connecting with senior Jay Williams along the sideline, who took it the distance for a 47-yard touchdown to tie the game.
The Rams then came up with a huge interception from junior Jojo Williams, who picked off a pass near midfield on a third-down throw. Millikan put together another scoring drive after taking over at its own 37-yard line, as Tuaniga capped the possession with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Williams.
That touchdown gave the Rams a 14-7 lead, and Millikan never trailed again for the rest of the game. Williams finished with three catches for 46 yards and two touchdowns.
The two teams would then trade touchdowns before the half, as Carter led a second-quarter drive that saw him carry the ball five times, capping it with a one-yard plunge to give Millikan a two-touchdown lead. Barstow replied on its final drive of the half, as Applewhite broke free for a 39-yard touchdown run up the gut. Millikan led 21-14 at the break.
Millikan was then on the bad end of a weird play to open the half, as the Rams were set to receive the second-half kickoff. The ball fell near the sideline at the Rams’ 36-yard line, where Millikan players heard what they believed were whistles from the officials. Barstow then pounced on the ball and was awarded possession, as the officials claimed they hadn’t blown their whistles and that the sound had instead come from someone in the crowd.
“I don’t know what happened on that play,” Pellum said. “When you’re in these games, you can’t leave any doubt. You have to take it out of everybody’s hands, whoever it is. Today we found a win, and I’m excited, man. Now we get to party down the 15 and go to sleep.”
Barstow took advantage of the recovered kick, driving down a short field as Applewhite hit Caleb Hooker for a first down before a Millikan penalty set the Aztecs up at the Rams’ 10-yard line. Applewhite then rushed for his third touchdown of the night while crossing the 100-yard rushing mark, tying the game at 21-21.
Millikan then turned the ball over on downs on its next possession before forcing an Aztecs punt, which set the Rams up at their own 15-yard line. The Rams drove down the field with help from a pair of facemask penalties before Tuaniga hit Taufa on a slant, which the junior took 44 yards for a touchdown.
The Rams would extend their lead to two scores once again after Reichard laid a hard hit on a Millikan punt to give the Rams great field position at their own six-yard line. Tuaniga took advantage of the opportunity, finding Darius Bennett for a touchdown to give Millikan a 35-21 lead with nine minutes left in the game.
Barstow responded with a drive that was aided by two Millikan personal fouls before Applewhite hit Santiago Rodriguez for a five-yard touchdown. Millikan then put the game away after forcing a turnover on downs in its own territory with under five minutes to play, as Carter rushed for his second touchdown of the night to give the Rams their two-touchdown lead back with two minutes left.
The Aztecs would add a score with one second left on the clock as Applewhite hit Kahlil Pope for his second passing touchdown of the night. Millikan then recovered the ensuing kickoff to seal the 42-35 win.
Taufa added 108 receiving yards and two touchdowns on six catches for Millikan, while Bennett had three catches for 46 yards and a score.
With the win, Millikan (5-7) will finally be back at home next week to face Oak Park (9-3). The Rams previously had to travel to La Cañada (80 miles round trip) in the first round before making the trip to Barstow on Friday.
