Rancho Buena Vista Survives 29-Point USDHS Rally

The University of San Diego High School football team, facing a 40-7 deficit, scored 29 fourth-quarter points and came within an offensive pass interference penalty of upsetting top-ranked Rancho Buena Vista in a San Diego Section 2-A quarterfinal playoff game Saturday night at Vista Stadium.

RBV dominated every phase of the game through three quarters, then held on for a 40-36 victory. It will play Avocado League rival Oceanside Friday in a semifinal game.

USDHS quarterback Anthony Massa, who completed just 2 of 10 passes for 17 yards in the first half, came to life in the final quarter with his team losing by 33.

Massa threw fourth-quarter touchdown passes of 35 and 13 yards to Jeff Desjardins and 34 yards to Tony Moeder, and Bobby Tubbs returned a fumble 25 yards for another score.

With a little more than a minute to play, Desjardins caught a 40-yard pass and stepped in for an apparent touchdown that would have put USDHS ahead. But he was flagged for interference, and Massa didn’t complete another pass after that.

RBV senior running back Scott Garcia rushed for 209 yards in 33 carries to raise his season total 2,187 yards, breaking the section record of 2,124 set in 1986 by Vista’s Tommy Booker. Garcia also rushed for touchdowns of 3 and 1 yards to give him 33, also a section record, breaking Terry Rodgers’ 1985 mark of 32.

In taking a 25-0 first-half lead, RBV scored on its first three possessions and would have scored again had Able Lopez not missed a 26-yard field goal to end the half.

RBV’s strength all season has been its running game, but Saturday night, its defense deserved equal billing. Facing the best passing attack it has seen all season, RBV held USDHS (8-4) to minus-10 net yards in the first half.