By Dave Abbott of NELA Sports One
In an upset victory, #8-seed Eagle Rock defeated the top-seed San Pedro Pirates on Thursday night, 38-31, in overtime. The Eagles will advance to the semifinals for the city championship in the Los Angeles City Section of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF). The Open Division is the highest level of playoff competition.
TD overtime 38-31 pic.twitter.com/7ONv9SoTuI
— Eagle Rock Football (@_rockfootball) November 11, 2022
In a season-ending loss, the #5-seed Franklin Panthers fell to the #6-seed Garfield Bulldogs on Thursday night, 50-29. It was Franklin’s first loss of the season, for an overall Panther record this year of 10-1.
The games
In the Eagle Rock v. San Pedro game, the Eagles were up 10-6 at half time and losing 23-17 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, the Eagles outscored the Pirates 14-8, tying the game at 31 with 27 seconds remaining. In overtime, the Eagles scored a touchdown and then held the Pirates from scoring to end of the game.
In the Franklin v. Garfield game, the Panthers were leading 13-6 after the first quarter and were down 21-16 at halftime. In the second half, the Bulldogs outscored the Panthers 29-13 to win the game 50-29.
The Panthers ended their season with many accomplishments. They were the Northern League champions with an undefeated regular season. They retained both the Principal’s Trophy (against Eagle Rock) and the Victory Bell (against Wilson). They made it to the Open Division in the playoffs for the first time in school history.
Next up
Eagle Rock will face Garfield in the semifinals on Nov. 18.
