COLTON — Eisenhower football coach Al Brown has learned a lot about his young team with just two seniors in these first two weeks of the 2025 season.
Friday night at Colton, he learned that they weren’t afraid of the big moment as sophomore quarterback Elijah Necochea found Isaiah Rogers over the middle for a 40-yard touchdown pass with 29 seconds to go and Noah Hennison came up with an interception on Colton’s last-ditch drive to preserve the 28-21 win after a week 0 loss at Moreno Valley.
“We went toe to toe with Moreno Valley last week but ran out of gas at the end,” Brown said. “Tonight we found enough within ourselves to get across the finish line despite some adverse circumstances and I think this group is beginning to realize just how good they can be.”
Eisenhower (1-1) won the toss but deferred and immediately found themselves playing from behind after Colton quarterback Koa Regalado completed a 9-yard touchdown pass on 4th and Goal to Jonathan Quiroz with 8:29 left in the first quarter. A series later, Necochea found Kaden Bryant on 3rd and long for a 15-yard touchdown pass that tied the game with 45 seconds left in the first quarter.
Colton (1-1) turned it over on downs with their next possession, and Eisenhower took advantage as Necochea kept the ensuing drive alive by completing a 4th and 13 pass that extended the drive until he called his own number for a 3-yard touchdown run with 3:28 until halftime to take a 14-7 lead.
Thirty-nine seconds later, Regalado connected with Kalvin Leon for a 60-yard touchdown pass that tied the game with 2:49 remaining until the break.
Quick strike offense was the theme of the second quarter as Eisenhower’s Treshawn Thurman took a kickoff return 80 yards for a touchdown that gave the Eagles a 21-14 lead with 2:34 left until halftime.
With 24 seconds left in the half, Eisenhower’s defense picked off a Regalado pass, and after the play was blown dead, a brief skirmish ensued that resulted in several ejections and an extended halftime. Game officials and administrators were trying to figure out how to proceed as a result of a pair of Eagles’ linemen getting ejected and their replacements having ineligible numbers for linemen.
Sophomore quarterback Thomas Prieto led the offense on a game-tying drive with 6:08 left that resulted in a 2-yard Tyler Zesk touchdown run.
Eisenhower had the field goal unit on for what would’ve been a nearly 40-yard field goal attempt but a pair of penalties forced the offense back out for a fourth down snap that resulted in Necochea’s second passing touchdown of the night to Isaiah Rogers and a 28-21 lead with 29 seconds left.
“When our offense was called back out after those back-to-back penalties, we knew we had to come through and that’s exactly what we did,” Necochea said. “There’s a different energy going through our team right now, and we’re excited to show just how good a team we can be.”
Noah Hennison picked off a Prieto pass as time expired to seal the win.
Next week, Eisenhower hosts Cypress on Friday while Colton plays Arrowhead Christian on Thursday night.
