DIVISION VIII FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : Mustangs Ignited by Rooker Run

It took Trabuco Hills High School Coach Jim Barnett about 13 seconds to become a permanent believer in arthroscopic knee surgery.

That’s because 13 seconds is how long it took Trabuco Hills’ injury-prone tailback Ben Rooker to sprint 80 yards for a touchdown and break a third-quarter tie Friday night.

Trabuco Hills followed up Rooker’s dash with three more touchdowns, and the Mustangs (12-1) went on to a 48-21 Division VIII semifinal victory over host Santa Clara at Oxnard’s Houser Field.

Trabuco Hills now has a shot a back-to-back Division VIII championships. The Pacific Coast champion Mustangs will face league rival Orange (10-2-1) for the title next Friday.

The addition of Rooker, who missed five complete games after having arthroscopic knee surgery early in the season, gives Trabuco Hills a punishing inside runner to complement its passing offense.

Rooker has also been slowed by a hamstring injury, but he rebounded for a 136-yard night against Cabrillo in the quarterfinals. Friday night, Rooker gained 200 yards on 23 carries, the big chunk of which was gained on his game-breaking third-quarter run.

“He still isn’t as fast as he was before,” Barnett said of Rooker. “But he was fast enough to get it done.”

Rooker’s sprint came 13 seconds after Santa Clara (10-3) had tied the game on a 35-yard touchdown pass from scrambling quarterback Tim Gutierrez (20 of 34 for 259 yards) to Jason Daw with 1:36 left in the third quarter.

Gutierrez had been given another crack at the end zone after one of his passes across the middle bounced off the chest of Trabuco Hills free safety Tim Manning. If Manning would have come up with that interception, he would have broken the all-time county record for career interceptions.

Manning threw for three touchdown passes--two five-yarders to flanker Rick Sparks and a 16-yarder to tight end Julian Ford. He also rushed for a four-yard touchdown in the second quarter.