Vista del Lago takes wild football win over Casa Roble as Peterson, Lindahl shine
Only seven minutes Friday night’s football tilt between Vista Del Lago and Casa Roble, there were already three touchdowns. That pace never relented as the Vista Del Lago Eagles took a 48-40 win on the Rams’ home turf.
It was a wild, back-and-forth game as both teams put up highlight reel-worthy touchdowns.
Vista del Lago led 28-22 at halftime, but Casa Roble’s Sam Khochay picked off a pass at the Rams’ 20-yard line and Jason Lindahl completed a 69-yard touchdown pass to Cole Owens to knot the score at 28. The Eagles responded by reeling off three straight touchdowns to put away the Rams.
“It was that third-quarter swing. I looked at our (defensive) coordinator and said, ‘Hey man if you give me the ball back, we are going to score,’ ” Vista del Lago coach Kyle Landes said.
Quarterback Jakob Hollinghaus led the charge with a pair of throwing touchdowns in that key stretch. Tyler Peterson added a 20-yard rushing touchdown to aid the Eagle’s offensive explosion.
For the night, Peterson scored three touchdowns, one receiving and two running. Peterson earned first-down yardage on critical third-down plays and kept the Eagles offense to stay on the field.
“Hollingshaus got into a rhythm, and when he is in a rhythm, he is deadly, so we were able to just nickel and dime our way down the field,” Landes said. “Our receivers do a great job, and with Peterson in the backfield, we have a lot of threats to work with.”
Not mentioned was the sturdy work of the offensive line, which opened up gaps for Peterson and gave Hollinghaus enough time to pick apart the Casa Roble defense.
“I was very excited to get the team on the board and win the game,” Peterson said. “The O-line really bonded together and we were able to run the ball.”
With Vista del Lago leading 48-28 early in the fourth quarter, the Rams had a final charge in them. Josh Taylor scored on a 2-yard run and Lindahl connected with Owens for a 47-yard touchdown with a minute left for the game’s last score.
“It always comes down to the wire with these guys,” Rams coach Chris Horner said. “Penalty after penalty and we still kept it within eight points. ... Defensively we struggled stopping them, their quarterback is a heck of a quarterback and their offensive is explosive.”
Lindahl threw for three touchdowns and ran for a 70-yard score as he was a threat all night for the Rams. The effort caught the eye of his coach.
“The kid is tough as nails and is built like Tim Tebow, I think he’s actually thicker,” Horner said.
A Heisman Trophy-winner isn’t bad company for a high school quarterback.
“This game means a lot to us,” Lindahl said. “Vista is a very good team and every year there is something with our team, we are either unhealthy or someone is missing. This was finally our chance as a full team, so I just wanted to win the game and played my heart out.”
Vista del Lago will have a week to reload and prepare for a road game with Placer in Auburn while Casa Roble has a home tilt with Rosemont on Friday.