Miramonte loses QB in first quarter, falls at Calaveras in NorCal final

Miramonte was riding a nice wave of momentum heading into its -A NorCal regional championship challenge at Calaveras Lane Dalton had stepped up from the JV company for injured quarterback Carson Blair and led the Matadors to three wins and a North Coast Section title But seconds into the regional Saturday night Dalton took a hard hit on a run along the sideline The sophomore stayed down for several minutes with an apparent leg injury and was taken off the field in a golf cart Nick Battaglia took over and finished the opening series with a short touchdown pass to David Roman From there it was all Calaveras as the home band overpowered Miramonte to capture the -A title with a - conquest Calaveras - will play Bishop Union or South Gate for the -A state championship next weekend in South California Miramonte finished - The visitors threatened to take the lead early in the second quarter when they marched inside the -yard line But an interception in the end zone gave Calaveras the ball at its The Red Hawks then drove yards behind its smash-mouth ground attack the drive ending when the -foot- -pound Enrique Hernandez plowed in from the to make it - The big guy was tough to bring down all night His two third-quarter touchdowns both on short runs widened the advantage to - Owen Shahan added a -yard touchdown run on a sweep early in the fourth quarter to extend the margin to - For Miramonte a season that could have been derailed when Blair went down just before the playoffs stretched into December But it ended one win from playing for a state title Related Articles Piedmont Hills playoff run ends as Balboa cruises to NorCal -A title Riordan sputters in second half as Folsom rallies to claim NorCal title The job s not done St Ignatius defeats Monte Vista to win Division -AA NorCal title Serra falls to St Mary s-Stockton as Rams mount late comeback to win NorCal title O Dowd digs deep holds off Chico to capture -AA NorCal title