SOUTHERN SECTION FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : Pullen Scores Just in Time for Esperanza to Beat Hart : Division III: Tight end’s catch of McDonald’s seven-yard pass with three seconds left gives Aztecs 38-35 victory.

As the seconds rolled off the scoreboard clock, Esperanza High School tight end Reid Pullen was wondering if he’d ever get a chance to run his pass pattern.

“The guy covering me was totally holding me,” Pullen said. “I couldn’t get past the line of scrimmage.”

But Pullen finally broke free and caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Keith McDonald with three seconds left to give Esperanza a 38-35 victory over Hart in a Division III football playoff semifinal Friday night at Valencia High School.

Esperanza (13-0) advanced to the finals against the winner of tonight’s Hawthorne-St. Paul game. It’s the first time the Aztecs have reached the finals since 1984, when they lost to El Modena, 26-0, in the Southern Division championship.

Pullen’s catch overshadowed performances for Hart by Scott Blanchard, who ran for two touchdowns and caught two touchdown passes, and Ryan Connors, who passed for 329 yards and three touchdowns.

Esperanza won despite an off night by halfback Jarod Smith. Smith, who had 685 yards rushing in his three previous games, gained just 36 in 18 carries.

“They took Jarod out of the game,” Esperanza Coach Gary Meek said, “but we showed that we had some other weapons.”

McDonald was one. He completed 15 of 21 passes for 254 yards and three touchdowns. Pullen had six catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns.

But Hart (9-4) showed the better passing game in the first half as Connors burned the Aztecs early and often. He completed 11 of 19 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns before halftime.

Hart scored on the second play from scrimmage when Connors tossed a shovel pass to Blanchard, who ran 47 yards for a touchdown.

Esperanza tied the score, 7-7, on the next possession, when Mark Parlin capped a 12-play, 60-yard drive with a one-yard run.

Hart got the ball back and Connors again picked apart the Esperanza secondary. He completed four passes for 73 yards on the drive, which ended on a six-yard touchdown run by Blanchard.

But Esperanza put together another long drive, 78 yards, to tie the score, 14-14. McDonald completed three passes for 65 yards, including an eight-yard touchdown pass to Pullen.

Clay King’s 26-yard field goal with 1:45 left in the half gave Esperanza a 17-14 lead, but the Aztecs again failed to stop Connors. He threw for all of Hart’s 80 yards on the 12-play drive, capping it with a 10-yard pass to Brian Bernier with five seconds left.

Esperanza pulled ahead, 24-21, when Smith scored on a seven-yard run with 6:16 left in the third.

The Aztecs held Connors in check in the third quarter as Derrick Reaves and Chris Weissman intercepted passes twice inside the Esperanza 10. But he threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Blanchard that gave Hart a 28-24 lead with 10:12 left.

That lasted less than five minutes. McDonald found Ryan Corbett wide open in the end zone with a 20-yard touchdown pass that gave Esperanza a 31-28 lead with 5:36 to go.

Blanchard scored his fourth touchdown on a 10-yard run with 2:10 left to give Hart a 35-31 lead.