Downey’s Daniels goes coast-to-coast – South wins Lions game

Tyran Daniels kept running and running, from goal line to goal line, from one end of Wayne Schneider Stadium to the other.

The Downey High graduate refused to be tackled, from the moment he snagged the interception to the final 30 yards when he celebrated like he had found money. For a quick test on how the 43rd Lions North-South All-Star Game will be remembered, here’s the answer: Daniels’ 102-yard pick-6.

“I just kept going,” he said. “I let people know, ‘The South is here.’”

If Daniels’ stunning score didn’t win the game, it no doubt carried the South toward that end. Eventually, he snared the Most Valuable Player award while his teammates finished with two touchdowns in the final eight minutes for a satisfying 28-20 win Saturday night.

The game will not go down as a work of art – the teams combined for 11 turnovers and a truckload of penalties – but it didn’t lack for action or emotion. The South, winner of three of the last four Lions games, relied on a few X-factors – more on that later – and a purposeful fourth quarter.

“It took strategy on the sideline. It took scheme. It took adjustments and substitutions. It took it all,” South coach Rob Cozart said. “It was a great way for guys to end their high school career.”

The South secondary defined the night with five interceptions, two by Daniels and the others by Central Catholic’s Jacob Days, Orestimba’s Austin Martins and Patterson’s Alec Espos. Days all but certified the result with his 27-yard interception and touchdown return with eight seconds left.

It was Daniels’ thunderbolt on the final play before halftime, however, that foreshadowed the South’s success. He pulled down Dylan Byrd’s long pass in traffic two yards deep in the end zone, stepped through a tackle before he reached the 10 and angled to his left while the North pursuers appeared to relax with penalty flags on the field.

Daniels did not relax. He accelerated as he zipped past the delighted South bench and finished his coast-to-coast sprint. Officials conferred with coaches for five minutes before they confirmed the touchdown that put the South ahead 14-6 at the break.

The North, fueled by three straight South turnovers, responded with a 14-point blitz and a 20-14 lead after three quarters. The South answered with its X-factors.

The first was quarterback Adam Herrera, the Los Banos quarterback who entered after an early-game thumb injury to starter Adam Olsen. Herrera, comfortable as he executed the South’s option offense, was named the game’s Offense MVP for his two touchdowns and 73 rushing yards.

More important, he engineered a 65-yard eight-play march for the game-tying touchdown with 7:37 to go. Two plays after he ripped 21 yards to the North 4, he faked to Jay Green and stepped 2 yards into the end zone.

The South committed to its ground-based attack even after its ragged third quarter. Sticking to the plan worked. The South totaled 233 rushing yards as Green and Justice Futch dented the North with straight-ahead pushes.

“We had to read the defense a little bit and kept punching up the middle,” Herrera said. “I had my time to shine and prove what I could do.”

Ggnacio Oliveres, Herrera’s Los Banos teammate, kicked the go-ahead conversion. Oliveres, the other X-factor, wasn’t even on the roster until last week. The South staff, down six players due to the usual attrition and injuries, went against-the-grain and opted for a kicker.

The move turned out better than good. Oliveres booted all three PATs and added effective punts and kickoffs. Conversely, the North missed two conversions and labored kicking the ball.

“We decided not to take anybody new that was a lineman or skill-position player. We didn’t have the time to coach them,” Cozart said. “What’s the harm in taking a kicker?”

Two words: No harm.

The North’s Shane Torre, the Calaveras star who notched five tackles-for-loss, was named the game’s top player on defense. The most inspirational awards were presented to Downey’s Poaka Kekua of the South and Stagg’s Jonathan Phillips of the North.

The “wow” award belonged to Daniels.

This story was originally published June 19, 2016 at 4:07 AM with the headline "Downey’s Daniels goes coast-to-coast – South wins Lions game."