ORANGE — Jaiden Moss ran for five touchdowns and Etiwanda’s defense made several big plays in the second as the Eagles topped Canyon 69-49 Friday in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs at El Modena High School.
Etiwanda (7-5) will host Leuzinger in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 18.
“Our offense played great for four quarters,” Etiwanda coach Nick Baiz said. “Offense did great running the ball and defense did great in the second half. You have to tip your cap to them (Canyon). Their offense is difficult to defend, but after the first half we figured them out and settled down a bit.”
The Eagles scored first thanks to an interception by Chauncey Davis, which led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Moss.
Moss finished the contest with 122 yards on 22 carries.
Canyon (9-3) tied the score at 7-7 with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Christian Lundsberg to Colin Chu.
The Comanches took their only lead of the night in the second quarter. Lundsberg’s touchdown pass of 8 yards to Kyle Krause gave Canyon a 28-21 lead.
Etiwanda fired back and took a 35-28 lead thanks to touchdown runs from Moss and Zivan Ardines.
The Comanches ended the first half with a 36-yard touchdown pass from Lundsberg to Kayvon Monfared, who was on his back when he made the catch.
Monfared caught seven passes for 154 yards and a touchdown.
Etiwanda took the lead following a fumble recovery by Sivaj DeJurnett-Simmons that resulted in another Moss touchdown run.
Miles Jackson got the ball back for the Eagles thanks to an interception that led to Ardines’ 4-yard touchdown run.
“We already knew our linemen were going to power their defense,” Moss said. “The linemen were going to take over. We just put our trust in our offensive lineman. Our defense is tough. They got picks and fumbles. They got pressure on their quarterback, which forced him to throw picks to our DBs.”
After Lundsberg’s fifth touchdown pass pulled Canyon within seven points, the Eagles took control with TD runs by Moss and Ardines.
Etiwanda put the game away for good with a fumble recovery for a touchdown by Matt Vasquez.
Lundsberg completed 33 of 44 passes for 412 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions. He also ran for 51 yards on 11 carries.
Chu caught 11 passes for 66 yards and a score and Krause caught seven passes for 79 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Canyon coach Phil Hughes said the loss didn’t overshadow what the team accomplished this season.
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“This team has done something incredible,” Hughes said. “We doubled our touchdowns we had last year and we matched the number of wins we had in three seasons in five games. I told this team they can do special things and they did special things. We set a ton of records this year and we battled for first place in a league that probably a lot of people didn’t think we would battle in. Just really proud of the effort and the fight and the fact that they never gave up.”
Ardines rushed for 77 yards on 12 carries with three touchdowns. Demaricus Davis was 15 of 18 passing for 239 yards and a touchdown, and Jaden Landrum caught eight passes for 175 yards and a touchdown.