HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL : University Finally Gets Off the Ground, 29-24

Run, shoot and score. That’s what University High School’s Warriors do on offense, and what they wanted to do against Reseda in their Pac-8 League championship game Friday. Establish the run, loosen the defense and then shoot for the score with an assortment of risky pass patterns.

Problem was, no run. No way.

Reseda’s big defensive line took care of that, holding the Warriors to 64 yards rushing. If University was to win its first league title in its 64 years, it was going to be with the rifle, quarterback Daryl Hobbs.

So it was. Hobbs threw for three long, second-half touchdowns, leading the Warriors to a 29-24 come-from-behind victory before a homecoming crowd at University.

Hobbs, a senior, exploited Reseda’s man-to-man coverage for 224 yards, completing 13 of 22 passes. Included were second-half touchdown plays of 26, 27, and 39 yards that brought University back from a 24-7 deficit with 7:49 remaining in the third quarter.

“If you double cover them, then they have other players that can hurt you underneath,” explained Reseda Coach Joel Schaeffer, who saw University flankers Paul Richardson and Marc Rodgers burn his defense.

“I don’t think there are any cornerbacks that can cover Marc Rodgers and Paul Richardson one-on-one,” said Rodgers, who had 3 catches for 75 yards, a touchdown, and a 15-yard punt return that set up the winning score.

“We practiced two-man (coverage),” Rodgers said. “That’s what we expected. But they (Reseda) felt they had the players to stick us. Obviously, they were proven wrong.”

Reseda (7-2, 5-2) took the opening kickoff and scored in 11 plays, quarterback Donnie Grant capping the 79-yard drive with a 1-yard sneak. University then went right down the field, thanks mostly to Hobbs’ 43-yard pass to Rodgers on the third play of the drive that set up Curtis Railey’s 1-yard touchdown run. It was 7-7 at halftime.

On the second-half kickoff came the touchdown that shouldn’t have been. University’s Amani Davis fumbled the kickoff at the 11, and Reseda’s Sam Edwards picked up the bouncing ball and trotted into the end zone.

Officials’ arms went in the air, and Reseda had a 13-7 lead. But fumbles cannot be advanced at the high school level--the ball is spotted where recovered--meaning Reseda scored a touchdown that wasn’t. University did not protest.

Instead, they gave the ball right back to Reseda for another easy score. Railey fumbled, and Nate Sessions recovered for Reseda. George Konstanstinopoulos followed that up with a 47-yard field goal.

Reseda kicked off again, and on University’s next play from scrimmage, Hobbs was intercepted. Two plays later, Ronald Wilkinson ran 15 yards up the middle for a touchdown and a 24-7 Reseda lead.

Hobbs connected with tight end Varian Smith for a 26-yard touchdown in the third quarter, and then took the Warriors on a 59-yard drive to the Reseda 3-yard line, where Railey fumbled again and Reseda recovered. But the University defense held Reseda again, and Hobbs hit Rodgers with a 27-yard touchdown pass, making it 24-22.

University (8-1, 6-1) got the ball back at the Reseda 39-yard line, after Rodgers’ 15-yard punt return, but Hobbs was incomplete on three straight attempts. Then, on fourth and 10, he threw to a wide-open Richardson over the middle for the winning touchdown.

Both teams advanced to the City 2-A playoffs, which begin next Friday.