Story by Nicolette Sarmiento
Editor-in-Chief
Though their season’s future looked dim, the Bishop Amat Lancers’ football team got a second chance at life by advancing to the CIF Playoffs off a lucky coin flip.
The Lancers’ future in the playoffs looked just about over when they finished league play with three losses. However, Amat got lucky when both Alemany and Loyola won their games last Friday, forcing a three-way tie in the Serra League.
In order to determine which team will enter the playoffs, CIF conducted a three-way coin flip.
Coach Joseph Canales explained how the referees executed the odd coin toss between Crespi and Notre Dame.
“[They conduct it] by each team having a coin,” he said. “If you are the odd man then you are out of the running. Then the remaining two teams flip a coin.”
Though the coaches knew almost immediately, some of the players were the last to know.
“I found out that we made playoffs from a text message from my teammate, Paul Hernandez,” senior Robert Cordova said. “I was really hoping that we would make it, but I wasn’t sure.”
However, senior running back Jalen Moore wasn’t as lucky. Moore said his coaches could not reach the players until Monday.
“Honestly, I wasn’t expecting us to make it,” Moore said. “But I saw people post on Facebook [that we made it]. The coaches didn’t have everyone’s house or cell phone numbers so everyone found out differently.”
Like Moore, several Amat fans heard the Lancers made playoffs from other sources.
“I was reading the LA Times,” said sophomore Frank Vierra. “When I found out about the news I was ecstatic and surprised that we even made it.”
Vierra wasn’t the only one who was surprised. Cordova said that he and his teammates all knew that their chances were slim.
“We were told that we had a 10 percent chance of making the playoffs,” Cordova said.
Players like Moore and Cordova are excited to have this opportunity. But now that the Lancers have the chance to redeem themselves, the big question still hangs in the air.
Will senior quarterback Rio Ruiz play? Some coaches said that they have yet to find out, but the players are sure.
“Rio is going to play,” said Moore.
The Lancers will travel to face the Santa Margarita Eagles at Saddleback College on Friday.
[Note: The interviews in this article were conducted by Staff Writer Joseph Moronez.]
