Capistrano Valley Holds Off Mater Dei

Capistrano Valley High School, apparently comfortable with an 11-point lead over Mater Dei’s football team Friday night, was nearly caught napping.

Quarterback Tony Solliday completed 13 of 26 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns as the Cougars, ranked second in Orange County, held off a late rally by the seventh-ranked Monarchs to win, 18-15, at Capistrano Valley.

Mater Dei cut an 18-7 deficit to 18-13 when quarterback Billy Blanchard threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ricky Ellis with 49 seconds left in the game. Blanchard then found Ellis on a two-point conversion pass to cut the score to three.

But Capistrano Valley’s Blake Spence recovered an onside kick at the Cougars’ 45-yard line, and they ran out the clock.

Cougar Coach Eric Patton said he was upset with the late touchdown.

“I was disappointed that we didn’t finish the game out,” he said. “A championship team has to polish it off and we didn’t. We put a lot of unnecessary pressure on us at the end.”

Capistrano Valley (2-0) contained Mater Dei’s offense in the first half and turned back the only other threat in the second half.

The Cougars sacked Blanton five times for 38 yards in losses.

Patton said Capistrano Valley never established its offense, either.

But the Cougars started strong, scoring on their first possession.

Backed into a third-and-18 situation, Solliday found tailback Jeremy Brion wide open on the left sideline for a 52-yard touchdown pass with 8 minutes, 38 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Brion scored on a two-point conversion run to give the Cougars an 8-0 lead.

Capistrano Valley pushed the lead to 15-0 with 5:50 left in the second quarter on Solliday’s second touchdown pass of the game. The Cougars got the ball on the Monarchs’ 35 after a 26-yard punt. Running back Allan Perlas ran up the middle for 12 yards and Solliday followed with a 23-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Dave Poltl.

But Mater Dei’s offense, which managed only 14 total yards in the first quarter, came to life on the ensuing possession. Blanton directed an 11-play, 64-yard drive that ended with an eight-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Terry Flannigan with 3:25 left in the second quarter.

Capistrano Valley answered on its next possession, moving to the Mater Dei 16 before Tomek Mikler kicked a 33-yard field goal with three seconds left in the quarter. The Cougars led, 18-7, at halftime.

Mater Dei (0-1) drove to Capistrano Valley’s three late in the third quarter, where the Monarchs faced a fourth-and-goal.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Blanton was rushed heavily by Cougar defensive back Matt Call and threw wildly for an incompletion.

Blanton finished 12-of-28 passing for 173 yards.