On September 8, varsity football tied against Windsor High School on their own home turf, with a final score of 14-14. This was a highly anticipated game for both sides, considering the nail biter game that occurred the previous year. Campo pulled out the win at the very last second – literally – the year before on Windsor’s home field, causing the Jaguars to come seeking revenge at Bob Wilson Stadium.
Junior safety Luke Bonardi said, “a team goal going into this game was definitely to win it because prior to this game we knew that it was going to be a tough battle. [Coach] Macy was saying that we were going to have to play some of our best offense and defense to win the game.”
The Cougars came out with high motivation and intensity, shutting down the Jaguar’s first drive within the first 3 minutes of the first quarter. With Windsor having a fourth-and-9 at Campo’s 30-yard line, senior defensive back Jake Spencer was able to force a fumble on a pass from Windsor’s quarterback to wide receiver, earning possession of the ball.
The first quarter didn’t prove fruitful for either team, ending with a score of 0-0. However, Campo still was continuing their first drive of the game, and started the second quarter with a third-and-8 on Windsor’s 25-yard line.
The Cougars were able to gain a first-and-goal with a 15-yard pass to senior wide receiver Tim Daughterty that landed them on Windsor’s 5-yard line. After a few attempts, sophomore running back Micah Parker was able to run the ball into the endzone, securing a touchdown for Campo with 9:25 left in the quarter.
The rest of the second quarter proved unsuccessful for both teams, with Campo attempting to score a field goal with 30 seconds left in the half. Unfortunately this attempt was not effective, and left the score at halftime 7-0.
Windsor started off the second half strong, forcing Campo to punt on their 4th down and turning over possession within the first minute of the third quarter. The Jaguars took this opportunity in stride and were able to score a touchdown with 5:24 left in the quarter, tying the score at 7-7.
Windsor continued this momentum into the first quarter, earning a second touchdown with 10 minutes left in the final quarter. However, Campo fought back and was able to match their touchdown with one of their own. Senior quarterback Isaiah Ortiz was able to push through Windsor’s defensive line for a touchdown that tied the score at 14-14 with 5:52 left in the quarter.
In response to their quick recovery, senior linebacker Josh Tsai said, “we knew to not get down on ourselves just because they made that play and to just bounce back from it on the field.”
The end of the fourth quarter resulted in no more points for either team, with Windsor’s final attempt at scoring falling short from a missed field goal. The fans were under the impression that this game would go into overtime, mostly because it was originally announced that they were and because Campo had gone into overtime before and had come out successful.
However, things changed up very quickly and the teams began to line up at midfield to shake hands, signaling that they were leaving this game in a tie. Although this sparked much confusion at first, senior safety James Giordani explained that, “our defense had not gameplanned as well as we needed to for the formation that they were in. Even though I think there is a good chance that we would have won, physically and mentally we had to make this decision.”
