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Ekene Ikeme

Alex and Eric Penrose wait for their next play in last week's victory.

The Encinal Jets are heading to the NCS Division 3 semifinals after a resilient 48-14 win over the Miramonte Matadors last Friday at Stargell Field.

Miramonte came out of the gate strong and hit Encinal in the mouth. The Matadors scored on its first possession on a 15-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ross Anderson to Kevin Booze. Booze caught the ball at the 9-yard line and broke three tackles on his way to the end zone. The Jets were forced to punt after they couldn't convert a third-and-short. On the Matadors' first play after the punt, Anderson threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to receiver Zati Williams. Just like that, the Jets were down 14-0, less than five minutes into the game.

"It wasn't good at all. It was scary," said Encinal head coach Joe Tenorio of the early Miramonte lead. "Those Miramonte kids made some big plays early."

With the Jets down 14 early in the game, they turned to senior running back Jon Trodder to dig them out of the hole they were in and Trodder delivered.

Trodder started to swing momentum Encinal's way by scoring on a 45-yard touchdown run on their next possession. Trodder scored again on a play-action pass from quarterback Andrew Ve'e for 50 yards bringing the Jets deficit to 14-13 at the end of the first quarter.

Trodder continued his dominant play in the second quarter, a quarter that saw Encinal put the game out of reach. Trodder ran for another long touchdown, this time for 49 yards after an Encinal interception by receiver/corner Bo Banks. Trodder was not even close to being done scoring touchdowns. He scored again on a 12-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter. Trodder finally let a teammate score a touchdown when

Banks ran one in from 19 yards out to make it 35-14. But Trodder remained unstoppable as he scored again on a 2-yard pass from Ve'e right before the end of the second quarter. Trodder scored five touchdowns (three rushing, two receiving) and amassed 165 rushing yards in the first half.

"He was amazing," said Tenorio. "He's the best running back we've had in a long time."

Both teams seemed to be on cruise control in the second half. It was a scoreless third quarter and a three-yard touchdown run by Kaniela Kahuanui of Encinal was the only score in the fourth quarter. The final tally was 48-14 Encinal.

"This was our biggest win so far," said Tenorio. "Other people don't give us a lot of respect, but we keep winning and that's all we need."

The Jets took down the Matadors shorthanded, as one of their top players Corey Sails was unable to play because he cut his foot late Thursday night, said Tenorio. Trodder more than made up for Sails's absence.

Trodder finished with 195 rushing yards and 73 receiving yards. The Jets finished with 542 yards of total offense on the night.

Last Friday's game was the Jets' last home game of the year as they are the lowest ranked team still alive in the Division 3 playoffs.

They will take on undefeated Marin Catholic in Kentfield Saturday at 1 p.m.