EMPIRE LEAGUE FOOTBALL : Loara’s Dawson Gains 200 Yards, but Cypress Wins

ANAHEIM — Loara running back Denison Dawson rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns, but the Saxons still were defeated by Cypress, 28-26, in an Empire League contest at Glover Stadium.

Dawson, a junior, scored on a five-yard run with 1 minute 50 seconds left to pull Loara (0-7, 0-2 in league) within two points. But the Centurions (4-3, 1-1) recovered the onsides kick and ran out the clock.

Cypress was led by quarterback David Martin, who completed nine of 15 passes for 140 yards and three touchdowns. A 15-yard pass to Martin Guillory opened the scoring with 2:12 left in the opening quarter. Martin also connected with tight end Clint Chavez for scoring plays of 11 and 26 yards.

Loara came back to make it 14-13 at halftime behind Dawson’s two second-quarter touchdowns, both set up by Cypress turnovers. Loara recovered four Centurion fumbles and intercepted a pair of Martin passes.

After Aaron Martinez gave Cypress a 28-13 lead on a four-yard run with 10:50 to play, Loara started its comeback on the second play following the score. Quarterback Bill Milligan fooled the entire Cypress defense on a bootleg rollout and ran untouched 55 yards to make it 28-19 with 10:29 left.