Blazers go from 0-5 to playoffs

As the final seconds ticked away, Ricky Dalton, AZ Sutton and Saul Cuevas bolted toward the stands, threw up their arms and basked in the adulation.

The senior trio is part of a Lindhurst High team that started the season 0-5.

After beating their biggest rival on Friday night, they are headed to the postseason.

In a match up of teams that have endured lion's shares of hard luck since last playing in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI title game a year ago, Lindhurst dropped Marysville 35-18.

And just like last year, the game had postseason implications. In 2008, the highly touted teams were battling for a Golden Empire League title. This time around, things were a little more demure, with both squads entering the contest at 3-6 and looking to back into the final remaining playoff spot.

But for the Blazers, who were outscored 158-34 to start the season, lost nearly all their starters from last year's score-happy offense and had to adjust to a new head coach, the mood was far from tempered.

"It's huge just to get to the playoffs," said Sutton, a quarterback convert that threw for a touchdown and rushed for another. "That itself is indescribable to me right now."

After a scoreless first quarter, Lindhurst found the end zone thanks to inheriting great field position after Anthony Vega scooped up a fumble on the opposing 17-yard line. His brother Angel than used a pair of rushes to put Lindhurst on the scoreboard, surpassing 1,000 yards for the season in the process.

Anthony Vega would add a 25-yard touchdown reception with 45 seconds to play in the half to give the Blazers a 14-0 lead at the half.

"They're just workhorses," Blazers coach Dan Crabtree said of the twins, who both wrestle at less than 150-pounds. "They come through for us every time."

The Blazers' lead would only grow in the third quarter. Just 52 seconds in, Sutton, pumped faked, made the safety bite, then connected with Stephen Paxton on a 65-yard strike. Then after the Blazers recovered a fumble in Indians' territory, Lindhurst drove to the one where Sutton ran in a score to make it a four-touchdown cushion.

The woebegone Indians, who have lost more starters to injuries than coach Cullen Meyer can count on two hands, did start to put up a fight despite using a contingency plan offense that saw quarterback Chant DeForest throw the ball 28 times, finishing with 12 completions, two interceptions and a touchdown.

Marysville tallied their first touchdown on a well-executed play action pass that Braden Knudson hauled in for a 24-yard score. The Indians then added two addition end zone trips in 11 seconds to wake up the large contingent of fans in black and orange. Deforest rushed for a touchdown and Knudson scooped up a fumble and ran it back for a score.

Lindhurst responded by driving the length of the field, then faking a 29-yard field goal that was run in on an end-around sweep by Edward Johnson. The play was called a score, looked to be rescinded then was again called a touchdown after a debate to whether Sutton's knee, who was holding the ball had his knee down.