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

Miramonte was riding a nice wave of momentum heading into its 5-A NorCal regional championship game at Calaveras.

Lane Dalton had stepped up from the JV team for injured quarterback Carson Blair and led the Matadors to three wins and a North Coast Section title.

But 40 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 team overpowered Miramonte to capture the 5-A title with a 35-7 victory.

Calaveras (12-2) will play Bishop Union or South Gate for the 5-A state championship next weekend in South California.

Miramonte finished 8-6.

The visitors threatened to take the lead early in the second quarter when they marched inside the 10-yard line. But an interception in the end zone gave Calaveras the ball at its 4.

The Red Hawks then drove 96 yards behind its smash-mouth ground attack, the drive ending when the 6-foot-1, 235-pound Enrique Hernandez plowed in from the 1 to make it 14-7.

The big guy was tough to bring down all night. His two third-quarter touchdowns, both on short runs, widened the advantage to 28-7.

Owen Shahan added a 5-yard touchdown run on a sweep early in the fourth quarter to extend the margin to 35-7.

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.