Pacifica Beats Rancho Alamitos to Earn Playoff Spot

Pacifica High School’s 21-20 victory over Rancho Alamitos Friday night boiled down to this:

Pacifica needed to win in order to secure a playoff berth; Rancho Alamitos did not.

It showed in the way the teams played the Garden Grove League game in front of 2,000 at Bolsa Grande High.

Pacifica played with a sense of urgency, taking advantage of Rancho Alamitos’ sloppy play.

A one-yard quarterback sneak by Chris Castellano and an extra point by Jullien Born with 1 minute 47 seconds left in the third quarter proved to be the game-winning points for Pacifica.

Pacifica (7-3, 5-2 in league) advances to the Southern Section Division VI playoffs as the league’s No. 2 representative. Rancho Alamitos (8-2, 5-2) advances as the league’s No. 3 team, having clinched a playoff berth last week with a 13-0 victory over Garden Grove.

Rancho Alamitos has not beaten Pacifica in the 14 seasons Bill Craven has been Pacifica’s coach. The schools tied, 8-8, in 1977.

Using a no-huddle offense in the first half, Pacifica threw Rancho Alamitos’ defense off balance.

“We tried to keep them from changing coverages,” Craven said. “We wanted to freeze them and keep them from huddling and changing their defense.”

However, the biggest lead Pacifica could manage was 14-6. The Mariners scrapped their no-huddle offense in the second half.

Ulysses Trammell scored on a seven-yard run around left end with 1:57 left in the half, then scored a two-point conversion run to tie the game, 14-14.

He added a 53-yard run less than two minutes into the third quarter, but the extra point was wide left.

Castellano’s touchdown was set up by Dereck Nicholson’s 49-yard run to the Rancho Alamitos one.

Trailing again, Rancho Alamitos drove to the Pacifica 49, where Trammell broke free for a 49-yard touchdown, only to have it called back because of penalties. The Vaqueros were called for holding and Trammell was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for waving the ball at a defender as he ran into the end zone.

Instead of a 26-21 lead, Rancho Alamitos faced a first and 30 at its own 31. The Vaqueros never fully recovered and never came close to scoring again.

Trammell, Orange County’s leading rusher, had 128 yards in 19 carries and three touchdowns. Quarterback Chris Singletary completed eight of 19 passes for 152 yards and one interception.

Nicholson led Pacifica with 113 yards and one touchdown in 24 carries.