Prep football: Colfax advances to second round with comeback and late field goal

Cannon Tomlin knew his kick was good before connecting with it.

With the game tied at 22 with No. 11 seed Argonaut, the Colfax High School football kicker was iced with four seconds remaining.

Tomlin lined up from the right hash and buried the 26-yard field goal down the middle to give the sixth-seeded Falcons a 25-22 win at home Friday night in the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division Vl playoffs.

“We work on that kick every single day of the season,” Colfax first-year coach Jason Stowers said. “We know our range. We had supreme confidence in him. Tomlin has kicked all season for us. He kicks off, returns kicks, plays running back, wide receiver and defensive back. Welcome to Colfax.”

The senior served as the backup kicker last season and this is his first year as the starter. He grew up playing soccer, but because Colfax has an enrollment of 640 students, he has to serve multiple roles.

“Before it left my foot and before they called a timeout, I knew it was going in,” Tomlin said. “People expect (me to be nervous) but that’s not what was going through my head. I was just thinking this is the same thing I do in practice every day.”

Tomlin ran for 67 yards and scored a 9-yard touchdown. Colfax quarterback River Roach passed for 128 yards and Malachi Thompson led the charge with 158 yards rushing. Thompson had touchdown runs of 5 and 15 yards and scored a 2-point conversion.

Colfax trailed the defending D-Vl section champions 22-7 at the half. Robert Prather and Robert Spigarelli both had short touchdown runs and Mateo Flores had a 64-yard gallop right before the end of the first half for the Mustangs (5-6).

Thompson rushed for 93 of his 158 yards in the second half. Colfax had over 200 yards of total offense in the final 24 minutes.

“Just pounding it,” Thompson said on what changed. “We had to get yards.”

The Falcons defense pitched a shutout in the second half and forced a critical turnover late in the fourth quarter when Argonaut was driving.

Stowers took over for Tony Martello, the winningest head coach in Placer County history this season. He calls him a mentor and friend. He coaches with brothers Nick and Kyle on his staff. Jason and Kyle were the co-head coaches at Woodcreek in the early 2010s.

Returning to Colfax was a homecoming for Stowers. He coached the Falcons’ defense for 11 season between 1999-2010 and has been on the Colfax staff since 2016.

“I talk to Tony every single day,” Stowers said. “Every single weekend I call for advice about schemes and program stuff. In some way, Tony has never left. He’s the greatest asset I have as a head coach. He’s my mentor and one of my best friends. … He’s been grooming me to take over. We are just trying to carry on the tradition that he set.”

The Falcons (7-3) will travel 150 miles to Stanislaus County to face No. 3 seed Orestimba next Friday.