Pintos Bow Out of State Quarterfinals in Overtime 42-41

Football is a game of inches, and that point was driven home for the Moriarty Pintos in a dramatic 42-41 state quarterfinal overtime loss on the road Friday night against Chaparral Lobos.

This one is going to haunt the Pintos for a while after Moriarty (6-5) twice built two touchdown leads over the Lobos (8-3), only to have Chaparral quarterback Israel Nieto work some magic.
Nieto had a hand in all of Chaparral’s touchdowns with three scoring passes of 20, 60, and 80 yards, and he ran for three more scores. His 67-yard scoring run on a fourth-and-four situation tied the contest at 35-35, but the Pintos still had time to sock away the win.
It appeared Mateo Manley-Griego had done precisely that when he crossed over the goal line from seven yards out and 19 seconds left in play. But a penalty nullified the run, and time ran out in regulation.
Overtime
The Pintos won the toss and got into the endzone with Mario Romero’s second touchdown of the game, but what appeared to be a designed fake place kick play fell short and left Moriarty with a 41-35 lead.
Nieto scored three plays later and then calmly kicked his sixth extra-point kick of the night for a 42-41 win for the Lobos.
Grounding Chaparral’s Air Game
Moriarty’s secondary responded to Nieto’s passing challenge in the first half as sophomore defensive back Julious Taylor pulled down two interceptions, including a dazzling 95-yard pick-six that gave Moriarty a 21-7 lead. The Lobos’ quarterback was limited to 3-13-2 passing for 40 yards.

Before Taylor’s first interception, the Pintos got touchdowns from Mario Romero (52 yards) and Mateo Manley-Griego (2 yards) on the ground.
A 60-yard scoring pass knotted the contest at 21-21, but Moriarty bounced back on top with Pinto quarterback Devin Ortiz linking up with Abraham Sloan on a 21-yard scoring pass. Ortiz later scored on a one-yard run, and placekicker Victor Dominguez-Arballo laced through his fifth straight extra-point kick of the night.
A Fourth-Quarter Rally
Nieto found his touch early in the second half, tossing his 60-yard bomb on the second play and two possessions later, hitting for 80 yards. The quarterback’s biggest play came on the fourth-and-four scoring run that tied the game again at 35-35.