HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL : Morse Slips Late but Then Recovers to Hold Off San Dieguito

Morse and San Dieguito high schools produced 8 turnovers between them in a soggy San Diego Section 3-A quarterfinal game Friday night, and neither scored a touchdown after the first quarter.

But if you’re a sucker for endings, Morse’s 14-6 victory at Southwestern College might have been the most beautiful high school football game of the season.

Trailing, 14-6, San Dieguito took the ball at its 47 for a last-ditch effort with 1:39 to play and moved to the Morse 42 with 55 seconds left and no time outs. San Dieguito quarterback Matt Brown then threaded the raindrops to receiver Sean Newcomer, who had slipped open when Morse defensive back Teddy Lawrence lost his traction and fell to the wet turf. Newcomer caught it at the 7.

The clock was running, and San Dieguito was a touchdown and 2-point conversion from sending the game into overtime. On first down, Troy Anderson ran for a yard. On second and third downs, Brown threw incomplete toward Newcomer. On fourth down, Morse’s Ignacio Salas stormed through the line and sacked Brown as time ran out.

The dispirited Mustangs shook hands with the winners, turned toward their bench and walked smack into a raucous standing ovation, courtesy of the San Dieguito fans.

It had been a long time between victories for Morse, which had received a first-round bye last week and dropped its season finale, 17-14, to Mira Mesa 2 weeks ago. The Tigers will play the winner of tonight’s Helix-Chula Vista game in a semifinal next weekend.

“I was more concerned with the layoff than anything,” Morse Coach John Shacklett said. “I wanted to play good defense and special teams and let the offense take care of itself.”

Morse scored 14 points and San Dieguito 3 in the first half, but as the night became colder and wetter, the play got sloppy.

Morse’s Ututofo Fiame fumbled on the second play of the game, and San Dieguito’s Tim Kechter recovered at the Morse 21. San Dieguito moved just 3 yards, but Todd Ortlieb drilled a 35-yard field goal to give his team the early lead.

That was San Dieguito’s first-half highlight. Morse’s Lawrence took the ensuing kickoff 54 yards to the San Dieguito 46, and 11 plays later, Fiame dove into the end zone from the 1.

Just 1:11 later, Morse scored again when Derrick Greene picked up a muffed San Dieguito handoff and ran 28 yards.

Ortlieb connected for a 32-yard field goal with 6:30 to play in the third quarter. But the rain put a damper on both offenses in the fourth.