Pomona junior quarterback Ryan Marquez threw a hard slant pass to Uriah Vigil and the senior broke a tackle before reaching the end zone on a 17-yard play that proved to be the difference Friday night at Mullen.
Vigil’s touchdown with 26.6 seconds remaining in the Zero Week nonconference showdown gave the Panthers a 28-21 victory at Brother Bernard Kinneavy de La Salle Stadium. Marquez was sharp on slant routes throughout the game, setting up on the game-tying touchdown on a short slant to Billy Pospisil, who went 48 yards to the Mullen 4-yard line.
“We were just reading the defense, taking what they were giving us,” Marquez said. “We weren’t conceding our deep ball; it was going earlier in the game. But when time matters, you have to take what they give you.”
Mullen, which trailed 14-0 in the second quarter, took a 21-14 lead on Adrian Jackson 5-yard’s touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter but the Panthers answered by converting on a fourth-and-1 from the Mustangs’ 1 with 7:29 left.
“I trusted my teammates. I know, no matter what the score is, I have faith in them,” Marquez said.
Pomona opened the scoring with 6:32 left in the second quarter. Marquez began the six play, 82-yard drive with a 36-yard pass to Max Borghi, the speedy junior running back. Borghi proved his worth on the following play, a 24-yard run, and after a 23-yard touchdown reception to Pospisil was called back because of a penalty, the Panthers continued to drive and made it 7-0 with Jeremy Gonzales’ 8-yard TD catch from Marquez and Tyler Thimsen’s PAT.
Mullen went three-and-out on its ensuing possession and Pomona rewarded Pospisil with the points that it previously took away from the sophomore wide receiver. He caught a 2-yard TD pass from Marquez to cap a 63-yard drive that featured a successful deep route from Marquez to Borghi that amassed 44 yards and gave the Panthers new downs on Mullen’s 4-yard line.
With less than 2 minutes to work with, Mullen rallied before halftime to cut Pomona’s lead in half. Sophomore quarterback Dominic Depizzol hit A’Jon Vivens on a flag route for a 56-yard gain and, on the next play, running back Marcus McElroy ran it in from 5-yards out.
The Mustangs tied it 14-14 on their first drive of the second half, thanks to a big punt return that started the drive on the Pomona 25. Zach Krause scored on a 3-yard run with 7:31 left in the third.
Pomona 0 14 0 14 — 28
Mullen 0 7 7 7 — 21
P — J. Gonzales 8 pass from Marquez (Thimsen kick). P — Pospisil 2 pass from Marquez (Thimsen kick). M — McElroy 5 run (Freeman kick). M — Krause 3 run (Freeman kick). M — Jackson 5 pass from Depizzol (Freeman kick). P — C. Gonzales 1 run (Thimsen kick). P — Vigil 17 pass from Marquez (Thimsen kick).
