LA HABRA — Sonora running back Anthony Abad was the workhorse he’s been all season and teammate Brady Ackerman made plays all over the field in the Raiders’ 28-20 victory over Irvine in a key Iota League game Thursday at La Habra High School.
The Raiders (6-4, 3-2) and Vaqueros (6-4, 3-2) finished the regular season with identical league records.
If first-place Troy (8-1, 4-0) defeats El Toro (5-4, 3-1) on Friday in this week’s other key Iota League game, Sonora, Irvine and El Toro would finish in a three-way tie for second.
However, Sonora already lost the coin flip to determine third place and since only the top three teams in the Iota League receive automatic bids for the CIF-SS playoffs, the Raiders would need to be selected as an at-large team to get in.
“I think the chances are better than not (of getting an at-large berth),” Sonora coach Kevin Oberlander said. “But you still don’t want to rely on at-large. You’d rather just know.”
Sonora definitely did its part on the field.
Abad had 36 carries for 201 yards and three touchdowns.
In Sonora’s first scoring drive, which went for 77 yards, Abad had six carries, gaining 71 of those yards, including one run for 47 yards and a 10-yard touchdown run to close out the drive.
Irvine took a 14-13 lead on a 41-yard touchdown pass from Khoa Bui to Deacon Moss and a 3-yard touchdown run from Seamus Hoffman.
The Raiders responded with a 13-play, 62-yard scoring drive and this time Abad carried 12 times and capped the drive with a 7-yard touchdown run.
“I think the key tonight was grit and love, especially for this program,” Abad said. “We emphasize a lot of team building, and this is a brotherhood we got over here. And I’m not doing it for myself, but we’re doing it for us. And we just had to have tenacity here on the field and this is a must-win game.”
Abad averages 8.2 yards per carry and finishes the regular season with 1595 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Ackerman recorded two sacks, for an 11-yard loss and the second for a 10-yard loss.
He also recovered two Irvine fumbles, including one caused by a hit on the quarterback by Isiah Porch.
In the third quarter, Ackerman had a 30-yard reception that gave the Raiders a first-and-goal at the 6.
Two plays later, Alexsay Nazaroff scored on a 7-yard run to give the Raiders a 21-7 lead.
Sonora converted Ackerman’s second fumble recovery into an 11-yard touchdown run from Abad to give the Raiders a 28-13 third quarter lead.
“This whole week, we were trying not to think that it could be our last game, but it was always in the back of our minds,” Ackerman said. “It’s been a pretty intense week for us and just an intense week of practice and it just feels great to go out here and get a win.”