Downey avoids collapse

Right man, right spot.

Wrong bounce.

Efrem Grimes rallied Enochs from the brink of a blowout with two long touchdown runs, and then found himself settling under a punt with 10 seconds left and victory on the table.

Just when it seemed this Modesto Metro Conference clash of the titans was set for a thrilling, claw-your-hair-out finish, Grimes slipped.

Past him went the ball and the game.

Downey recovered as the final gun sounded, securing a 35-33 victory on Friday evening at Chuck Hughes Stadium.

The Knights (6-1 overall) strengthened their grip on one of the conference's two automatic playoff berths, remaining in lockstep with Beyer High (5-2) at 3-0.

Enochs (3-5, 2-2), meanwhile, saw its chances of repeating as MMC champs thin with its second conference loss.

Grimes did his part to keep the Eagles relevant in this playoff and championship race. The second-string back with the straightahead running style bulldozed his way through the line for scoring runs of 67 and 81 yards to start the fourth quarter, turning a double-digit deficit into a one-possession game with 9:06 left to play.

His runs energized an Enochs crowd shaken when safety Nico Loveless-Delgado was carted off the field to start the fourth following a collision with a teammate and Downey receiver Richard Lopez. The junior was conscious on the stretcher.

With rally cries filling the Eagles sideline — "Win this one for Nico," Matt Hackett screamed, waving a towel — Grimes went to work on a 35-20 deficit.

On the first play following the injury timeout, Grimes burst through the line of scrimmage and covered the final 67 yards untouched to make it 35-26. Enochs' two-point conversion failed, but the defense forced a punt.

Two plays later, Grimes, a 6-foot, 210-pound fullback, was back in open space, pulling away from smaller, slighter defensive backs.

His 81-yard run and the ensuing point-after made it 35-33. There was hope yet for this Eagles bunch, the same team that slumped into the break all but beaten.

Grimes' legs lost steam, though. On the game's final play, Grimes slipped tracking the punt. He lay on the turf near midfield as Downey erupted off the sideline, celebrating a win it had to sweat out.

Grimes finished with 212 yards on 15 carries and three touchdowns. Gabriel Lindsey-Turner provided a nice 1-2 punch for the Eagles, tallying 141 yards on 17 touches.

Early on, this had the makings of another classic Air Knight blowout.

Big-arm quarterback Aaron Zwahlen tossed three touchdown passes, including two to Conner Purnell, who finished with 135 yards on seven catches. Zwahlen threw for 228 yards and engineered three scoring drives in the final 3 minutes of the first half to make it 28-7 at the intermission.

He broke a 7-7 tie with a 37-yard strike Richard Lopez, who ran unattended through the Eagles' secondary. A minute-and-a-half later, Juan Vaa-Ayala scored the first of two rushing touchdowns to make it 21-7.

After an interception of Trey Cooper — Enochs' fifth turnover of the first half — Zwahlen called Purnell's number on the first play, tossing a high-arcing ball into double coverage. Purnell leaped over two defenders, hauling in the pass with his fingertips. As the defenders collided, Purnell found his footing and strutted into the end zone with a 58-yard score with 24 seconds left.