Capistrano Valley Beaten on Conversion

Capistrano Valley High School, brought to an emotional peak with a desperation drive, fell with a thud because of one player Friday.

Paramount’s Jack Manu.

Capistrano Valley drove 63 yards in the final four minutes to tie Friday night’s Southern Section Division III semifinal game at 28-28. But the jubilation was short-lived.

In the California tiebreaker, Manu flipped a three-yard pass to running back Leon Neal for a two-point conversion that gave Paramount a 36-35 victory in front of 5,000 in Santa Ana Stadium. The Pirates, who defeated Los Alamitos for the Division III title last season, will play El Toro in the championship game next Saturday.

The Cougars scored on their first possession of the tiebreaker to take a 35-28 lead. Then, on Paramount’s first play, Manu rolled to his right and hit Darrell Cloy in the end zone for his fourth touchdown pass of the game.

After a timeout, the Pirates went for two, and Manu lobbed a pass to Neal, who was not covered when he swung out of the backfield.

“There was no question we were going for two,” Paramount Coach Ken Sutch. “That’s our style.”

That style was apparent through most of Friday’s game as the Pirates (12-1) played with the swagger of defending champions. Costly mistakes didn’t faze them, nor did a 21-14 halftime deficit.

And that style was most evident in Manu, who was the Division II player of the year last season.

Considered a better runner than a passer, Manu burned the Cougars both ways. He gained 60 yards rushing, including an 11-yard scramble for a touchdown, and completed 10 of 14 passes for 139 yards.

Capistrano Valley (12-1) was able to pressure Manu, but he was able to improvise some big plays.

The Cougars took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter when Damon Psaros scooped up a fumble and returned it three yards for a touchdown. The Pirates proceeded to drive 83 yards in just three plays to tie it, 6-6.

With a first down on the Cougar 26, Manu was flushed from the pocket. But, as Psaros grabbed his legs, Manu floated a pass to Alfonso Bigelow, who outjumped Mike Lavin in the end zone for the touchdown.

Manu threw two touchdown passes in the second half to give the the Pirates a 28-21 lead, driving Paramount 72 and 77 yards.

“Not bad for a team that can’t pass,” Sutch said. “That’s all we hear about. Everyone says we can run the ball great, but we can’t pass.”

After giving up 209 total yards in the first half, Paramount held the Cougars in check for most of the second half. But with 4:01 left and Capistrano Valley trailing by a touchdown, it mounted one last drive.

Quarterback Tony Solliday, who passed for 214 yards, completed six of seven passes on the drive, including a 14-yard completion to Chris Adams on a fourth-and-10 play to maintain possession.

Solliday also scrambled nine yards to give Capistrano Valley a first down on the Paramount three. On the next play, he rolled to his right and found Dan Zamora all alone in the end zone for the touchdown with 21 seconds left.

Solliday and Zamora hooked up again on the first play of the tiebreaker to give the Cougars the lead.

But Manu had the last say.