Alemany Takes Two on 2nd Try

The decision by Alemany High Coach Pat Blackburn to try to kick a game-tying extra point rather than attempt a two-point conversion against St. John Bosco on Friday left some Alemany players disgruntled.

Quarterback Joey Rosselli had just orchestrated a dramatic 80-yard scoring drive late in the fourth quarter to trim the Braves’ lead to 21-20. A tie would have assured the Indians of a second-place finish in the Del Rey League and a playoff berth. But a tie?

“We were kind of mad that he was going for the extra point,” team captain Mark Dannemiller said.

Blackburn was irked, too, when Scott Goldsmith’s kick failed. St. John Bosco was penalized on the play, however, giving the Indians a second chance.

The penalty moved the ball to the 1 1/2-yard line. Much to the delight of Alemany fans, Blackburn reconsidered and decided to go for a conversion run.

“The crowd started chanting ‘ Two. Two. Two ,’ ” Rosselli said. “Coach looked at them, looked at me, kinda smiled and pointed up two fingers.”

Terry Barnum took a pitch and scored to give Alemany a 22-21 advantage.

And the loss did not sit well with the St. John Bosco players. Rosselli tried to go down to one knee in the waning seconds to run out the clock but was hit on the way down.

Add Alemany: The Indians’ kicking game might be their undoing. Brent Chalker was the original kicker but was replaced by Goldsmith after missing consecutive extra-point attempts against St. Francis two weeks ago.

After Goldsmith missed the game-tying kick in the waning moments against St. John Bosco, Chalker twice booted the ensuing kickoff out of bounds and was replaced in turn by Goldsmith, who squibbed a kick that was recovered at midfield.

Walking on water: Moving to another plateau in water polo has not doused anyone’s confidence at Harvard. After winning last season’s Southern Section 2-A Division, the Saracens have made a splash in the 3-A Division.

Harvard will play host to Mission Viejo in today’s quarterfinals after beating its first two playoff opponents by a combined 37-9 score.

“A lot of people didn’t expect this team to go this far. Probably, I was the only one,” Harvard Coach Rich Corso said. “The mood is, we haven’t done anything yet. We’re status quo. We’re in the quarterfinals, which is where we should be.”

The Saracens edged the Diablos, 8-7, for seventh place in the Sunny Hills tournament earlier this season.

“Obviously, they have good end-to-end speed,” Corso said of the swimming hotbed. “When you think of Mission Viejo, you think of aquatics.”

Wait ‘til next year: Moorpark players and coaches were shocked when the Southern Section Division IX football playoff pairings were announced Sunday.

Moorpark, which posted a 7-3 record--best in school history--and finished third in the Tri-Valley League behind Carpinteria and Fillmore, was not included. Desert (7-3) and Santa Margarita (7-3) were granted at-large berths in favor of Moorpark.

“I was a little surprised,” Moorpark Coach Rob Dearborn said. “We play in a tough league and our league plays tough people.”

Dearborn might have an argument.

Moorpark defeated Nordhoff, 34-7. Desert also defeated Nordhoff, although not as convincingly, 24-12.

One of Santa Margarita’s victories was against Corona Centennial, a school in its inaugural season with no seniors.

“It was interesting,” Dearborn said. “But we came in third and put it in somebody else’s hands. Any time you do that, you’re in trouble. That won’t happen next year.”

Staff writers Tim Brown, Sam Farmer and Vince Kowalick contributed to this notebook.