The High Schools / Tim Brown : More Than Loss Shakes Hernandez

It was one of those losses Tom Hernandez just could not let go of. Or, would it not let go of him?

Hernandez, the San Fernando High football coach, fell asleep early Saturday morning watching game film of his team’s heart-wrenching 36-34 loss to Banning in the semifinals of the City Section 4-A Division playoffs.

Two hours later, an earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale shook him from the refuge of his slumber.

“Damn,” he said aloud to no one but himself. “We lost.”

It was a chore to return to his personal sanctuary: Like Banning, Mother Nature can be unrelenting. The Tigers are 0 for their last 11 against the Pilots.

“We couldn’t have played any tougher,” Hernandez said. “That’s the hard part.

“It was real hard to talk to the kids after the game. We had them convinced we could win this game. They were totally convinced.”

San Fernando nearly pulled it off. The Tigers answered every Banning touchdown except, of course, the last one. To win, the Pilots needed a trick play, an 8-yard touchdown pass from running back Keith Mimms to quarterback John Ma’ae with 2:37 left.

San Fernando outgained Banning, 351 yards to 346. It was that kind of night for Tommy Hernandez. And it just wouldn’t let go.

Add San Fernando: Banning had left itself open, and San Fernando quarterback Michael Wynn wanted to take advantage.

After scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 2:37 remaining, Banning inexplicably kicked the point-after to go ahead by only 2. A field goal could have won it for the Tigers.

“After that last touchdown, I got by myself and prayed,” Wynn said. “All I wanted to do was to get within field-goal range.”

The final drive stalled, however, when Wynn was sacked at his own 36 with 40 seconds to play. Wynn, a junior, will be back next season. It didn’t ease the pain much.

“I was crying,” he said. “I felt like this team we had, if we were ever going to win a City championship while I was here it would be us. I had the most confidence in this team this year.”

Had the Tigers won, there would have been little question why: Wynn was superb. He passed for 237 yards and 4 touchdowns and ran for another 46 yards. Two of San Fernando’s biggest plays--a 15-yard first-quarter touchdown pass to Eddie Carrillo and, later, a 10-yard pass to Sean Williams to set up another score--were on audibles by Wynn.

“He did everything he could possibly do,” Hernandez said. “That’s why it really hurts. When you play as hard as you can and come up short.”

Said Wynn: “I’m looking forward to next year, but I’ll never forget this one.”

Last add San Fernando: The crowd at San Fernando was apparently appreciative of the spectacle, although similarly disappointed with the outcome.

“There were 4,000 people in our stands, and they were saying that was the greatest football game they’ve ever watched,” Hernandez said. “They gave us a standing ovation when we left the field.”

Hernandez, who graduated from San Fernando in 1974, agreed.

“That was the greatest football game ever played on our field,” he said.

Working overtime: When a player signs up for the Canyon football team he can expect a long season. For the sixth consecutive year, the Cowboys have extended their season to at least 13 weeks. The Cowboys will play in their 82nd game in 6 years when they meet Antelope Valley in the Southern Section Division II final Saturday at Antelope Valley High. Canyon whipped Buena, 45-14, in a semifinal Friday.

Canyon won 3 consecutive Southern Section titles from 1983 to ’85 and advanced to the semifinals in ’86 and ’87.

“Not many high school teams in the country play 13 games a season,” Canyon Coach Harry Welch said. “Most college teams don’t play that many.”

Welch does not object to the overtime but the extra duty appears to carry a price tag for his players: More games mean greater risk of injury.

Canyon has lost 4 players in the past 7 weeks to injuries, and when senior inside linebacker Brian Zemojtel underwent knee surgery last week, he became the third Cowboy to end his season with knee surgery. Previously, junior inside linebacker Justin Lee and senior reserve lineman Scott Kraeger underwent surgery. Junior wide receiver Clint Beauer fell victim to a knee injury but managed to avoid surgery.