Garden Grove Wakes Up in Time : Football: Argonauts fall behind by 14 but rally to beat Pacifica, 17-14, on Ioja’s field goal.

Another close one like this, and they might have to dangle the smelling salts in front of Garden Grove football Coach Jeff Buenafe.

The Argonauts needed a 75-yard fourth-quarter drive and 23-yard field goal by Adrian Ioja with 5 minutes 49 seconds left to beat Pacifica, 17-14, in a Garden Grove League game in front of 1,500 Thursday night at Bolsa Grande High.

The victory kept Garden Grove, sixth-ranked in Orange County, undefeated at 9-0 and 6-0 in league and moved it a step closer to a potential title matchup with Rancho Alamitos at home next Friday. Rancho Alamitos (7-0-1, 5-0) plays Los Amigos tonight.

But the Argonauts--who needed 19 fourth-quarter points to rally past Bolsa Grande last week--almost blew the opportunity, spotting Pacifica 14 points before responding in a sloppy game marred by penalties: 13 for 144 yards for Garden Grove, 12 for 89 yards for Pacifica.

“I hope we weren’t looking past them (Pacifica),” Buenafe said. “I think our kids knew the importance of this game.”

If they didn’t going in, they found out in a hurry.

Pacifica (6-3, 4-2) opened the scoring on a 40-yard tight end reverse/option pass from Rich Main to wide receiver Eric Stevens with 7:32 remaining in the first quarter. The drive had stalled, fourth-and-21 at Mariner 33, but Dan Murray was roughed while punting to give Pacifica an automatic first down. The Mariners made good use of it three plays later.

Excellent field position after a Garden Grove punt set up Pacifica’s touchdown early in the second quarter. The Mariners started at the Argonaut 48 and took only seven plays to score on a one-yard run by fullback Vince Murry.

That’s when reality apparently set in for the Argonauts, who responded with touchdowns on their next two possessions for a 14-14 tie at the half.

Running back Jim Sebreros, who rushed for 108 yards in 22 carries, got the first Garden Grove score on a six-yard run with 4:15 left in the second quarter, and quarterback Brian Schneider then combined with wide receiver Brandon Hoalton on a 15-yard touchdown pass just before the half.

Hoalton, who also plays defensive back, ended Pacifica’s final drive by intercepting a Murray pass at the Garden Grove 39 with 1:14 to play. Argonaut linebacker Doug Pluard contributed to the Garden Grove defensive effort with several key plays, including two sacks in Pacifica’s next-to-last possession.