El Camino Real Wins Wacky Tiebreaker

VAN NUYS —  Michael Cooper wasn’t quite ready to call it a win, though it certainly wasn’t a loss. Nobody was sure what to call what took place Monday at Birmingham High.

By any definition, however, it meant that Cooper and his El Camino Real mates lived to play football in the postseason.

“You really can’t call it a game,” Cooper said. “I don’t know what it was.”

Cooper made the contest’s big play as El Camino Real knocked off Kennedy in a rare California tiebreaker by the wacky score of 1-0.

The tiebreaker was necessitated when the teams played to a 22-22 tie Friday night and finished in a tie for third place in the talent-heavy North Valley League at 4-2-1.

The format was as funky as the final score. Each team was given eight plays from scrimmage and offenses alternated after each down. After six plays, neither team had scored or penetrated farther than the opposition’s 38-yard line.

Under tiebreaker rules, if neither offense scores, the team that winds up with the ball in opposition territory after eight plays gets a point and the victory. Which is where Cooper enters the strange equation.

On Kennedy’s seventh play, a quick pitch to senior tailback Donte Scarbrough moved the ball to the El Camino Real 38.

On the next play, quarterback Ryan Venturine connected with Cooper down the right sideline for a 38-yard gain to the Kennedy 24. Cooper, a tight end, out-battled two defenders to grab an under-thrown ball.

On the ensuing play, Kennedy’s last, a pass from Dan McMullen to Shaun Dudra landed out of bounds, prompting a minor party to break out on the El Camino Real sideline. The Conquistadores (7-2-1) will play at Carson in the first round on Friday. Kennedy finished 5-3-2.