PREP FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS / SOUTHERN CONFERENCE : Capo Valley Upset by Villa Park

The end of an era came Friday night.

Todd Marinovich, who has passed for more yards than any other high school quarterback in history, played his last high school game.

And though he threw for 330 yards, Marinovich couldn’t pass his team to victory.

Capistrano Valley fell to Villa Park, 21-19, in the first round of the Southern Conference playoffs before 1,100 at Fred Kelly Stadium.

Marinovich, shaken and in tears after the game, has won just one Southern Section playoff game, when he was a sophomore at Mater Dei (against Los Altos in 1985). In his two years as the Cougars’ starting quarterback, he was winless.

Capistrano Valley, ranked No. 1 in the county for much of the season, dropped three games in 10 days, forfeiting it El Toro and losing to Mission Viejo last week. Coach Eric Patton, who took over last week when Dick Enright was suspended, said his team lacked emotion against Villa Park. “Maybe we were overrated,” he said. “Maybe we have been all year.”

And maybe Villa Park, which finished second in the Century League with just one league defeat, has been underrated.

The Spartans’ defense, playing without two of its anchors--linebacker Scott Creagan (ankle) and tackle Chip Smith (knee)--fought Marinovich every down of the way. And Villa Park tailback John Chorbagian rushed for 125 yards in 12 carries.

Villa Park’s defensive back Lance Rabun and linebacker Alex Fassora both intercepted Marinovich near the end of the first half, allowing Villa Park to maintain a 7-7 tie at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Spartans scored on a 55-yard pass play from quarterback Rob Davey to Doug Byrnes to take a 14-7 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Marinovich marched the Cougars down the field, where they eventually scored on a two-yard run by Matt Spence. But Scott Hannah’s kick was wide.

Villa Park scored almost immediately on an 11-yard sweep by Davey to take a 21-13 lead.

In the game’s final seven minutes, the Cougars had three more scoring opportunities, but capitalized on just one. Marinovich was sacked twice to stop the first drive, but the Cougars recovered a fumbled snap by Villa Park and later scored on a 13-yard pass from Marinovich to David Rawson.

But Marinovich’s attempt to run in the two-point conversion failed.

Villa Park will face Los Alamitos, which scored a 32-17 victory over Lynwood in the first round, in the quarterfinals next Friday.