San Marcos, Morse Win, Advance to Section Finals : San Marcos Slides Past La Jolla

The field looked like the Okefenokee Swamp.

There was hardly any grass left on the turf between the 20-yard lines at Mesa College, and there was not much beyond the 20s either.

San Marcos High School quarterback Rick Ebert called the field “the biggest water slide I’ve ever seen.”

Those field conditions might have caused La Jolla to let a chance to win 2-A semifinal game in regulation time slip away Friday night.

In the overtime period, it was just strong San Marcos defense and a penalty by La Jolla that gave San Marcos a 14-7 victory.

San Marcos (7-4-2) will play the winner of tonight’s San Pasqual-Lincoln game next week in the 2-A final at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

San Marcos got there because it scored on its first possession in overtime and then kept La Jolla (10-2) from scoring on its only possession in the California Tiebreaker. Each team was awarded the ball on the 10-yard line and given four downs to score.

San Marcos failed to score on its first set of four downs, but got another chance when La Jolla’s Jerry Walker was called for roughing the kicker on a field goal attempt.

Given new life, San Marcos scored three plays later when Ebert ran in from the one.

La Jolla could not score on its four downs. Fullback Eric Brown, who weighs 250 pounds, rushed twice to the seven-yard line.

On third down, La Jolla quarterback John Tribolet faked a handoff, rolled right and threw a pass to tight end Brad Raulston, who was wide open in the end zone. But the slippery ball went through Raulston’s hands.

San Marcos defensive back Sam Rivera saved the game on the next play. Tribolet rolled to his right again and threw to receiver Adam Lenain, who was just inside the goal line. Rivera dove and just tipped the ball.

In celebration, San Marcos players dove into every puddle they could find.

“I knew it was going to be a pass on both plays,” Rivera said. “They were trying to get their hands real clean, so I knew they were going to throw.”

La Jolla’s Brent Woodall could not even find a clean place of turf when he lined up to kick a 25-yard field goal with 57 seconds left in regulation.

Woodall, who had kicked a 47-yarder earlier this year, was forced to kick out of a puddle. He got under the ball and left it short by about two yards.

That was all San Marcos needed, Coach Ken Broach said.

“After that, I knew the game was ours,” said Broach, who will coach San Marcos in the 2-A final for the second time since 1979. “We have been practicing for a playoff for three weeks. Our kids were ready for this. Maybe they weren’t ready for a field like this, but they were ready to play in overtime.”

San Marcos benefitted from a dry field on its first touchdown drive.

It was only raining lightly when Jess Berrelleza scored on a four-yard run with 7:03 to play in the first half.

Although it was raining harder and the field began to get swampy, La Jolla scored on its first drive of the second half. Tribolet slid into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown “run.”