ANAHEIM – Katella’s bid to advance to the semifinals for the first time came up short Friday night at Glover Stadium as the Knights fell to Twentynine Palms 26-7 in a CIF-SS Division 11 second-round game.
The Knights, who won the Orange League title for the third consecutive season, suffered their first defeat and finished 11-1. The Wildcats (9-3) advanced to play the winner of the Arcadia/Quartz Hill quarterfinal.
Hunter Tygart and Hugh Carpenter combined to run for 250 yards and four touchdowns to lead Twentynine Palms, No. 2 in the De Anza League.
Tygart broke off a 79-yard TD run to give the Wildcats a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
Twentynine Palms capitalized on a Knights miscue early in the second quarter. KJ Magwood Morton returned an interception 64 yards to the Knights’ 6. On fourth down, Carpenter scored on a one-yard sneak for a 13-0 lead.
The Wildcats upped their lead when Carpenter raced 55 yards on a fourth-down QB sneak late in the half to make it 19-0 at the break.
Rafael Martinez’s 1-yard TD run in the third quarter cut the lead to 19-7. Nathan Arrington’s 34-yard pass to Edward Williams gave the Knights a key first down at the Wildcats 4.
Katella failed on seven fourth-down tries.
“Normally will convert those, but tonight we couldn’t get it done when it counted,” Katella coach Fred DiPalma said. “I don’t think we missed seven fourth-down attempts all season.”
Tygart sealed the Wildcats win with a 63-yard TD run with 8:35 to play.
Arrington passed for 185 yards for the Knights but was picked off twice.
