Boom, boom: Pioneer punches past Casa Roble in a clash of Golden Empire powerhouses

Pioneer football coach Matt Bryson figured his team had a puncher’s chance against Casa Roble on Friday night.

Boom boom, out go the lights.

Bryson leaned on running back Jack Carner to carry the offensive load while penalties slowed the Rams to give Pioneer a 31-23 win. It was Casa Roble’s first loss in Golden Empire League play, which it has dominated since joining in 2018.

The final time-winding drive epitomized the night for both teams. Starting with 3:45 remaining in the game, Pioneer fed Carner a steady diet of handoffs. The junior running back dove through line, dragging bodies along for the ride as he picked up a first down.

Then, on fourth and 2 with less than two minutes remaining, Casa Roble was busted for encroachment. The Rams had eight penalties in the game. One wiped out a touchdown throw from Jason Lindahl because the receiver stepped out of bounds before catching the ball; a 12-men-on-the-field call helped Pioneer get a first down on fourth and 3.

Carner finished with 30 runs for 192 yards and three touchdowns. While the game was intensely competitive, there is also a deep respect between the two programs. After the game, Casa Roble coach Chris Horner put Carner in a bear hug near midfield. Yeah, they’ll see each other again next fall, but Bryson, the Pioneer coach, has nothing but respect for Casa Roble, which has a 30-foot-tall inflatable for players to run through and more videographers and photographers on the sidelines than the Rams have coaches.

“I love his program. I love competing against him,” Bryson said. “They have the show here. To win here, it’s just something that, again, they’ve never lost. So yeah. Big deal for us.”

Bryson likened Casa Roble to Alabama’s college football program. For the most part, the game looked like two heavyweights slugging it out.

Tied at 10 at halftime, Pioneer pulled ahead early in the third quarter when senior quarterback Ajay Lucero chucked a looping deep ball into the end zone for receiver Hector Casas. Casas crawled over a well-positioned Casa Roble defender to haul in the pass for a 17-10 lead.

“I actually kind of caught that on the one a game plan,” Lucero said. “I saw that receiver one on one, I worked on it all week in practice and we just we knew that that was gonna be the one, so we called it and coach agreed to it and we got it.”

“(Casas) did a great job cashing out. He got a body around him and he jumped and he got it. I was like ‘You got that ball? Oh God.’”

Lucero threw for 127 yards on seven completions and had the one touchdown pass.

Carner added to the lead, running almost untouched up the middle from 28 yards out to extend the lead to 24-10 with 10:58 to play.

But Rams quarterback Jason Lindahl wasn’t going to let things get out of hand. The senior captain marched his team down the field in a minute and a half of action, completing a touchdown pass to Kirt Lewis to draw within 24-17.

After Carner capped a nine-play scoring drive for a 31-17 lead, Lindahl again led a fast-moving Casa Roble drive, completing three passes and eventually diving in from the 1-yard line to make it 31-23 with 3:45 to go. Lindahl finished with 216 yards and two touchdowns on 13-for-18 passing. He also ran 12 times for 69 yards.

Horner, the Casa Roble coach, lit up when asked if he’d play Pioneer every week of the season. You bet. And twice on Sundays.

“I’d play these guys every week. I’m telling you right now, there’s a sense of calm coming and going. I can’t freak out. I’m not nervous. I just know it’s gonna be an ass-kicking game,” Horner said. “We’re gonna be physical. They’re gonna be physical. I adore Matt Bryson and gosh, that guy does a great job.”

The coaches share a mutual respect. They met for a handshake on the field after the game. It ended with Bryson loudly imploring Horner and his team to beat Dixon next week. A Casa Roble win would give Pioneer the Golden Empire League title (assuming the Patriots beat Mira Loma); a Casa Roble loss would give Dixon the league title.

A win would also set up Casa Roble for a home game in the playoffs. And doesn’t Horner know it.

“I’m hoping we can carry over and be positive next week and get Dixon because we need that one bad,” he said.