Sports

Denson Leads Coronado to 54-36 Upset of Mt. Miguel

Islanders quarterback throws six touchdown passes to power win over No. 1-seeded Matadors.

Is it any wonder the scoreboard at Mount Miguel High went black with about four minutes left in the first quarter of Friday night's San Diego Section Division IV quarterfinal game between the Matadors and visiting Coronado High?

The two teams had just combined to score 34 points in a span of two minutes and six seconds, so maybe the scoreboard just couldn't keep up. Order was quickly restored, but not for top-seeded Mount Miguel, which fell to the hot hand of Islander quarterback Austin Denson.

The southpaw slinger threw for six touchdowns, including five in the first half when Coronado built a 34-17 lead, as the Islanders stormed to a 54-36 win and a date with Santana in Thursday's semifinals.

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"This whole week, coach (Tony Isabella) has been instilling confidence in us," said Denson, who was 10-of-18 in the first half for 194 yards and five TDs. "We felt like we were going to win this game. We studied a lot of film to get ready. I owe my success to my offensive line."

After Mount Miguel (8-2) gave up the ball on downs, Denson capped an eight-play, 65-yard drive with a 25-yard scoring strike to Charles Westbrook, putting Coronado up 7-0 with 6:13 left in the first quarter.

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It didn't take the Matadors long to catch up. Derrick Dunn took the ensuing kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown, and a two-point conversion out of a kicking formation gave Mount Miguel an 8-7 lead.

Hunter Corpus took a short pass over the middle and went 49 yards for a score on the fourth play of Coronado's next drive, making it 13-8 with 4:45 left in the first. Just 14 seconds later, the Matadors were back on top 14-13 after Dunn ran through the right side of the line for a 61-yard touchdown on the first play after the Coronado kickoff.

The Islanders (9-3) quickly regained the lead, this time for good, when Denson needed just three plays to cover 65 yards. After an incompletion, he ran 41 yards to the Mount Miguel 24, then found Ryan Halvorson in the end zone for a 20-14 lead.

Using a no-huddle offense, Mount Miguel drove from its own 20 to the Coronado 4 in 10 plays, including a 42-yard run by Dunn on the opening play, before settling for a 22-yard field goal by Eduardo Rodriguez with 1:13 left in a 37-point first quarter.

The first punt of the game gave the Matadors possession, but on fourth down from the Mount Miguel 34, Bobby Brandenberg broke through to tackle the punter and give Coronado a short field, It took Denson just three plays to cover 23 yards, with Paul Rodriguez pulling in a 17-yard pass deep in the left corner of the end zone for a 27-17 Islander lead.

On its next possession, Coronado went 82 yards in 10 plays, capped by a 13-yard touchdown pass from Denson to a wide-open Westbrook. That produced a 34-17 lead for the Islanders at intermission.

Coronado played ball control in the third quarter, retaining possession for 10:04 of the 12-minute period. After a 12-play drive died at the Mount Miguel 25, the Matadors went 75 yards in nine plays to pull within 34-24. Dunn had a 40-yard carry in the drive, which finished on a 5-yard TD run by Tony Dozier.

Coronado then went three-and-out, but a fumbled punt gave the Islanders the ball back at the Matador 9, and Denson carried it in from four yards out for a 40-24 lead with 2:26 left in the third quarter.

An onside kick recovery gave Coronado the ball back, but Denson was intercepted in the red zone by Trevion Wilson on the first play of the fourth quarter. Dozier lumbered in from 39 yards out to cap a quick five-play drive and pull Mount Miguel within 10 at 40-30.

Midway through the final quarter, Matador quarterback Ernest Williams had a pass bounce off one of his receivers to Coronado's Westbrook, who returned it 29 yards along the left sideline for a TD and a 47-30 lead.

The Islanders recovered another onside kick and scored the clincher with 2:33 to go on a fourth-down 23-yard TD pass from Denson to Mason Copp. Dunn's 3-yard touchdown run less than a minute later produced the final 54-36 score.

"We just came out here big-headed and didn't play our game," said Matador QB Williams. "They came out more prepared than us and it showed. "Not playing next week hurts, knowing this was my last game as a high school player."

Coronado advances to play fourth-seeded Santana (10-1) on the Sultans' field at 7 p.m. Thursday. Santana beat Imperial 41-13 Friday. Mount Miguel handed the Sultans their only loss, 37-23, on Oct. 28 in Santee.


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