Agoura Holds On in Final Seconds for Victory Over Laguna Hills, 14-7

Agoura High stopped Laguna Hills two yards short of the end zone on the final play of the game as the Chargers registered a 14-7 victory Friday night in the Southern Section Division VIII quarterfinals at Irvine High.

Agoura sealed the victory by stopping Laguna Hills’ Darrin Chapman at the two-yard line after a 23-yard pass from Mark Wells with no time remaining.

Agoura (9-3), the third-place team from the Frontier League, will play Orange on Friday in the semifinals. Laguna Hills, which upset top-seeded Yucaipa last week, finishes 6-6.

It was the third consecutive game that Agoura had won in overtime or the final seconds.

Wells completed four of eight passes for 54 yards on the final drive, which began at the Laguna Hills five with 1:22 left.

An interference penalty with seven seconds left gave the Hawks the ball on the Agoura 35. On the following play, the Chargers were called for holding, which put the ball on the 25 with no time left.

Chapman then caught Wells’ pass at the five but was tackled by Todd Cribari.

Wells, who had not completed a pass until the fourth quarter, finished six of 16 for 63 yards and threw one interception.

Agoura halfback Dave Caramanis scored on a two-yard run in the fourth quarter to break a 7-7 tie. Caramanis set up his score with runs of 23 and 20 yards on the 70-yard drive.

Chapman, who scored the Hawks’ touchdown on a 37-yard run in the third quarter, had 73 yards in 14 carries. Laguna Hills played without fullback Marwan Saba, who missed the game because of a dislocated elbow.