Prep Football Roundup : Two 4th-Quarter Touchdowns Give El Toro Comeback Victory

Fans packed 5,000-seat Zephyr Stadium in Allentown, Pa., an hour before the kickoff of Thursday night’s game between Whitehall High School and El Toro, anticipating the first-ever meeting of high school football teams from California and Pennsylvania.

Several hours later, the overflow crowd of 6,500 left wondering why schools from these states, considered two of the nation’s hotbeds of prep football, hadn’t met before.

Scott Miller caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Bret Johnson with 26 seconds remaining, and Chris Sekeres kicked the extra point to give El Toro a 20-19 victory.

“You can’t ask for anything more than this,” said El Toro Coach Bob Johnson after his team scored two touchdowns in the last four minutes.

“I haven’t been in a game with this kind of emotion in our area, even during the (Southern Section) playoffs. They go crazy for football around here. You had to be there to believe it.”

Whitehall took a 19-7 lead with 8:40 left when Joe Tatasciore scored on a one-yard run.

“We feel that when you can throw the ball like we can, you’re never out of a game,” Johnson said. “We were in a deep hole, down 19-7, but we weren’t too worried, because we know we’re capable of striking quickly.”

The Chargers did just that. Bret Johnson, the coach’s son who had thrown for more than 2,000 yards as a sophomore, connected with Miller for a 27-yard gain to set up Scott Ross’ one-yard run to make it 19-13 with 3:59 remaining.

Then the El Toro defense, which appeared battered and fatigued in the second half, stopped Whitehall on downs on its next possession. The Chargers got the ball back at their own 34-yard line with 1:43 left.

Soon thereafter, Johnson launched a 40-yard pass to Miller down the sideline to move El Toro to the Whitehall 15 with 40 seconds left. On the next play, Johnson found Miller deep in the end zone and hit him with a perfect pass just above the reach of the Whitehall defenders.

Whitehall had one last chance, but quarterback Mark Beidleman was sacked and had the ball stripped out of his hands by El Toro tackle Scott Spalding. The Chargers recovered.

“I really thought we overpowered them up front, but those two guys (Johnson and Miller) just beat us with big plays at the end,” Whitehall Coach Joe Gerencser said. “It’s been a long time since there has been crying in a Whitehall locker room, as there is tonight. But our kids played with a lot of pride, and they played hard and well.”

Johnson completed 18 of 37 passes for 209 yards and 2 touchdowns, and Miller had 10 receptions for 157 yards and 1 touchdown. Whitehall rushed for 179 yards, and El Toro had 98 yards on the ground.