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Southern Section

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Saturday, Dec. 4

SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS

Semifinals

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DIVISION I

Long Beach Poly 39, Esperanza 15
Bill Pendleton called it “blue-collar workers going against thoroughbreds,” and it was hard to dispute the analogy.

The Anaheim Esperanza football coach, his team going for a third consecutive upset in the Southern Section Divison I playoffs, watched a more athletic squad from top-seeded Long Beach Poly take advantage of nearly every Aztec mistake to run off with a 39-15 victory Saturday night at Long Beach Cabrillo High.

The win by Poly (12-1) sends the Jackrabbits to the championship game Friday at Angel Stadium against second-seeded Los Alamitos (12-1). It will be the seventh time in eight seasons that the Jackrabbits will play for the title. They have won three and tied for another, with their last championship coming in 2001.

“They had too many good athletes for us,” said Pendleton, whose Aztecs (10-3) gave up too many big plays. “Any time they got into space, they broke for six.”

Poly converted two of Esperanza’s three first-half turnovers into touchdowns. The one that sealed the Jackrabbits’ appearance in the final came when Gary Doxy intercepted a pass at the Poly 45 with seven seconds left in the first half.

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Cruz Parsons then passed 10 yards to Terrence Austin, who escaped the grasp of two defenders and went down the left sideline for a 65-yard touchdown play with no time remaining. Michael Skvor’s extra point made it 28-7, and the Aztecs were toast.

“Coach [Lara] told us at halftime that they were bleeding, but now they’re dead,” Austin said.

Esperanza’s first turnover led to Poly’s first score. On Esperanza’s third play from scrimmage, Laronzo Bursey returned an interception 15 yards to the Aztec 25. DeSean Jackson ran a reverse 20 yards, then two plays later Troy Guthrie scored from one yard. On the point-after attempt, the snap was high and Esperanza’s Mike Stone recovered the first of two fumbled point-after attempts.

Esperanza ran the ball successfully, with Rocky Taloa picking up 181 yards and two touchdowns in 27 carries. His first, of 11 yards, gave Esperanza a 7-6 lead midway through the first quarter.

But Poly’s big plays were too much to overcome. After Skvor’s 62-yard punt, William Alo and Kenny Rowe tackled Taloa in the end zone for a safety and 8-7 lead. It was the first of three safeties recorded by Poly.

On another drive, quarterback Theo Scott ran 31 yards and then passed 30 yards to Ryan Smith for a 14-7 lead late in the first quarter.

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Guthrie peeled off a 62-yard score for a 21-7 lead. Vincent Joseph protected the lead after Poly’s defense held inside the 10 when he blocked a 21-yard field-goal attempt.

--Martin Henderson

DIVISION II

Mission Viejo 48, Upland 21
Quarterback Mark Sanchez completed 10 of 15 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns - all in the first half - and Chane Moline gained 84 yards in 11 carries and scored two touchdowns for the Diablos, who led, 41-7, at halftime.

Top-seeded Mission Viejo (13-0) will be making its fourth consecutive appearance in the Division II championship game when it meets No. 2-seeded Valencia (12-1) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Angel Stadium. Upland ends its season at 10-3.

--Ben Bolch

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DIVISION III

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 49, La Canada St. Francis 14In winning its 21st consecutive game and earning the chance to play for its third consecutive Division III championship, top-seeded Notre Dame (13-0) once again relied on its trio of devastating offensive weapons.

Quarterback Garrett Green completed 12 of 16 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Cary Harris rushed for 97 yards in 10 carries and scored touchdowns on runs of five, 15 and 17 yards. And running back Rodney Glass rushed for 82 yards in 13 carries and scored touchdowns on runs of seven and 14 yards.

“You can’t key on any one of the three,” said St. Francis Coach Jim Bonds, whose team lost to Notre Dame, 38-7, in a Mission League game.

Notre Dame, which will play host to second-seeded Compton Dominguez (12-1) in Friday’s Division III final, opened a 28-0 halftime lead and led, 42-0. Green had scoring passes of 28 yards to Andrew Jones and 14 yards to Jess Stricklin. Glass improved his season rushing total to 1,066 yards, not far behind Harris’ 1,229. And Green has 703 yards after gaining 70 Saturday.

Tony DeMartinis had an interception and a sack to lead the Knights’ defense, which limited St. Francis (9-4) to 83 yards passing.

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--Eric Sondheimer

DIVISION IV

St. Bonaventure 28, San Luis Obispo 21
Derek Wilson’s four-yard touchdown run with 7:31 left in the game proved to be the difference Saturday night as the Seraphs advanced to an unprecedented sixth consecutive Southern Section final with a Division IV semifinal win over San Luis Obispo at Oxnard Pacifica.

Matt Evans of St. Bonaventure (12-1) connected with Josh Tafoya for a three-yard touchdown with 45 seconds remaining in the first half and ran for the two-point conversion to tie the score, 14-14. Evans, who platoons with Samson Szakacsy, did not return in the second half after injuring his right hand on the conversion run.

Szakacsy connected with Ricky Garcia for a seven-yard score late in the third period for a 21-14 lead.

Quinten Cate completed 14 of 18 passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score to lead San Luis

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Obispo (10-2). Phil Garza rushed 25 times for 108 yards for the Tigers.

The Seraphs will play Ventura (11-2) in the final on Friday at Ventura High.

--Mayar Zokaei

DIVISION V

Corona Centennial 63, Temecula Valley 19

DIVISION VI

Orange Lutheran 21, Villa Park 3
The noise level on the Orange Lutheran side grew as the Lancers marched toward their second consecutive Southern Section Division VI title-game appearance Saturday night, but it quieted quickly when quarterback Seth Blackamore crumpled into a heap with 3 minutes 34 seconds left to play.

The top-seeded Lancers held on to defeat fourth-seeded Villa Park, 21-3, at Orange El Modena High, but everyone’s attention turned to Blackamore, the Division VI co-most valuable player last season who missed most of this seson with a torn anterior-cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Blackamore, who did not start but led the Lancers (12-1) on three unanswered touchdown drives after taking over for sophomore Aaron Corp late in the first half, re-injured his knee after dropping back on a quarterback draw play with Orange Lutheran holding an 18-point lead.

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“I pushed off and my foot slipped and [my knee] went out on me,” he said.

Orange Lutheran, which will play second-seeded Newport Harbor (12-0-1) in the championship game at 2 p.m. Saturday at Angel Stadium, has outscored its three playoff opponents, 63-0, in the second half.

Villa Park (11-2), which had never played Orange Lutheran even though the schools are located only a mile apart, was limited to 21 total yards and two first downs in the second half.

--Dan Arritt

DIVISION VII

Western 28, Fullerton 23

DIVISION VIII

Serrano 38, Diamond Ranch 14

DIVISION IX

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Fullerton at Western

DIVISION X

Crespi 25, Lompoc 8

DIVISION XI

Oaks Christian 42, Nordhoff 6

DIVISION XII

Ontario Christian 37, Pasadena Marshall 21

DIVISION XIII

Anza Hamilton 59, St. Margaret’s 27

8-MAN

LARGE DIVISION

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Championship

Faith Baptist 65, Kings’ Christian 14

Friday, Dec. 3

SOUTHERN SECTION SEMIFINALS

DIVISION I

Los Alamitos 14, Lakewood 9

DIVISION II

Valencia 37, San Clemente 7
Michael Herrick completed 25 of 35 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns and the Valencia defense held San Clemente to 84 yards in the second half as Valencia defeated the Tritons, 37-7 in a Division II semifinal at Valencia.The Vikings (12-1) will play the winner of tonight’s game between top-seeded Mission Viejo and Upland. Valencia is playing in only their second final, having lost the Division III final in 1999 to Hart.

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Valencia took a 17-0 halftime lead on touchdown runs of two and four yards by shane Vereen and a 37-yard field goal by Brian Malette then the Viking defense took over.

The turning point came after Valencia extended its lead to 24-0 on a two-yard pass from Herrick to Shane Morales with 3:07 left in the third quarter. Four play later linebacker Gary Cox forced a fumble and lineman Mauricio Cos picked it up and ran 12 yards for a touchdown and a 31-0 Valencia lead.

Vereen finished with 111 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.

San Clemente, which lost a semifinal for the fourth consecutive year, played without starting running back Kevin Fortin who was out with a sprained ankle. San Clemente had 193 total yards and only 11 first downs. They had only three first downs in the second half.

The Tritons also were hurt by nine penalties for 115 yards, five of those were personal fouls in a frustration-filled second half.

--Peter Yoon

DIVISION III

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Dominguez 20, Peninsula 0

DIVISION IV

Ventura 10, Agoura 9
Matthew Starn’s 36-yard field goal with nine seconds left in the first half proved the difference in a Division IV semifinal at Ventura High.

Cory Smits ran for a two-yard touchdown to give Agoura (9-4) a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game, but the senior quarterback was stymied by the Cougars’ defense the rest of the night. Smits completed 18 of 38 passes and was sacked seven times, including four times in the third quarter.

J.T. Wright, who had two touchdowns and 180 yards receiving in last week’s upset of second-seeded Rio Mesa, was double-teamed numerous times and caught just six passes for 81 yards.

Jon Peckham scored on a five-yard run near the end of the first half and Alex Keats intercepted a pass and had a fumble recovery for Ventura, (11-2) which outgained Agoura on the ground, 225 to 42. Lee Mondol carried seven times for 122 yards for the Cougars.

--Mayar Zokaei

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Division V

Norco 35, Temescal Canyon 21

DIVISION VI

Newport Harbor 24, Lakewood Mayfair 17
Alex Orth caught a 29-yard touchdown pass with 4.2 seconds left to lift the second-seeded Sailors to a stunning victory in a Division VI semifinal at Cerritos College.

The Sailors (12-0-1) had tied the score 21 seconds earlier on a 28-yard field goal by Travis Duffield and the game appeared headed to overtime. But senior running back DeShawndre Creighton of third-seeded Mayfair fumbled as he ran into the middle on Mayfair’s next play from scrimmage, and Taylor Young recovered at the Monsoon 29 with 12.7 seconds left.

Newport Harbor took a shot at the end zone. Orth got behind the secondary and then out-leaped three defenders for the ball, advancing the Sailors to the section final for the first time since 2000.

Mayfair (11-2) appeared headed for its first title game since 2001 when Sean Leistner kicked a 43-yard field goal with 3:20 left for a 17-14 lead, its first after falling behind, 14-0, in the second quarter.

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Spencer Link caught seven passes for 147 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown in the first quarter and three catches on the drive that ended with Duffield’s tying field goal. Orth caught nine passes for 142 yards.

Newport Harbor quarterback Kasey Peters completed 18 of 30 passes for 317 yards and two touchdowns and also scored on a one-yard sneak in the second quarter.

--Dan Arritt

Division VII

South Hills 41, Arroyo 18
West Covina 31, Walnut 27

Division VIII

Palm Springs 31, Ridgecrest Burroughs 18

Division IX

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Tesoro 42, La Habra 25

Division X

North Torrance 21, Santa Maria St. Joseph 18

Division XI

Oak Park 40, Cerritos Valley Christian 13

Division XII

Grace Brethren 47, Mojave 13

DIVISION XIII

Rio Hondo Prep 38, Linfield Christian 15
No. 2 seed Rio Hondo Prep improved to 11-2 after defeating No. 3 seed Linfield Christian (10-2-1).

8-MAN SMALL

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Desert Chapel 34, Lighthouse Christian 27
Desert Chapel scored 34 unanswered points in the second half as the Eagles (8-4) won their first CIF football title at home.

The Eagles finished the season by winning eight of the final nine games, and had to travel more than 1,000 miles in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds as they won at fourth-seeded Big Pine and top-seeded Maricopa to earn the berth in the title game.

While it was the first title for the school, it wasn’t the first for head coach Russell White, who led Crespi to the CIF-SS Big Five Conference title in 1986 as a sophomore and went on to star at the University of California.

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