Eastern Conference Final : Los Altos Comes Back to Beat H.H. Wilson

A prophecy by Coach Dwayne DeSpain of Los Altos High School came true Saturday night. His team was the one that made fewer mistakes, and that was the difference as the Conquerors defeated crosstown rival Hacienda Heights Wilson, 14-9, in the Southern Section’s Eastern conference final at Mt. San Antonio College.

Earlier in the week, DeSpain said the game would turn on mistakes. A safe prediction, and as it turned out, a good one.

Los Altos, which trailed, 3-0, at halftime, came out in the second half and converted Wilson mistakes into 14 points.

Los Altos took the second-half kickoff and drove to the Wilson 10, where the drive stalled and the Conquerors missed a field goal.

But the Wildcats gave the ball right back when quarterback Andre Vicario fumbled the snap from center and Zach Buhler recovered at the 20.

It took Los Altos quarterback Darren DeSpain one play to give his team the lead as he faked right, then threw in the left flat to tight end Steve Peters, who ran down the left sideline to the end zone for a 7-3 lead.

Wilson came right back and appeared to be driving to take the lead when Jack Abel stepped in front of a Wilson receiver and intercepted Vicario’s pass at the Los Altos 23.

The Conquerors drove 77 yards, the key play being a 29-yard run by David Crosby to the Wilson 21. From there, Larry Verdugo broke through at right guard for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter.

“They really stopped us in the first half,” Dwayne DeSpain said. “In the second half, we made some adjustments to change it up and change our blocking assignments.”

Trailing, 14-3, Wilson drove 67 yards for a touchdown, the payoff coming on a 3-yard dive by Mike Smith to cut the lead to 14-9.

Wilson got the ball back with 6:42 remaining, after the Wildcat defense stopped Los Altos.

But the Conquerors picked a good time for their only sack, as Mike Zorn came through on a blitz and dropped Vicario on third and nine at the Wilson 34.

Wilson had one more chance, but Vicario’s desperation pass fell incomplete as time ran out.

“The turnovers were the turning point of the game,” Wilson Coach Dave Merrill said.

Each team dominated a half, but it was Wilson that came up short, managing only three points in a first half that it controlled.

“That was the discouraging thing--we had the ball the whole first half and got only three points,” Merrill said.

In the first half, the Wildcats outgained Los Altos, 130-32, and had 7 first downs to Los Altos’ 1. Los Altos’ only first down of the first half came with less than two minutes remaining, but that potential drive was short-circuited two plays later when Darren DeSpain was intercepted at midfield. DeSpain completed 4 of 8 passes for 40 yards in the half but was intercepted twice and sacked twice.

“They (Los Altos’ defense) kept us in the game the first half,” Dwayne DeSpain said.

The only score came on a 34-yard field goal by Andre de la Rambeje 5:23 before halftime.

Vicario completed passes of 15 and 16 yards to Smith on the drive, the latter reception putting the ball at the Los Altos 17. But Wilson could get no closer, as Vicario overthrew his receiver on first down, had his pass batted down on second down and threw incomplete in the end zone on third down.

Vicario completed 15 of 33 passes for 173 yards, with 1 interception. Darren DeSpain finished with 8 completions in 14 attempts for 106 yards, with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.

Los Altos, which won the first meeting between the teams, 10-7, finished 13-1; Wilson finished 9-5.