Mira Mesa Squeaks Past Orange Glen

Sometime, fate just smiles on you.

Mira Mesa received such a smile Saturday night, and the Marauders advanced to the San Diego Section 3-A semifinal with a 15-14 victory over Orange Glen.

How kind was fate?

--With three seconds left in the first half, Daryle Owen trotted on the field to attempt a 50-yard field goal. Even one of his own coaches muttered to himself, “He doesn’t have a chance.”

Owen, who missed an earlier extra-point attempt, drilled it through the uprights, his first field goal longer than 40 yards, and it cut Orange Glen’s lead to 14-9.

--Orange Glen, down 15-14, moved from its 33 with 2:02 remaining, to the Mira Mesa 13. Out of timeouts and needing to stop the clock to set up a game-winning field goal, quarterback Omar Navarro threw a pass into the ground near the sideline. It would have been uncatchable, but Orange Glen (6-5-1) had been running out patterns against Joe Martell all night. Martell guessed on the play, then dived to make the interception a few inches off the ground to preserve the victory.

--Field position. Mira Mesa’s two touchdown drives were 51 and 53 yards. The first took three plays and 1 minute, 26 seconds, with Chad Davis completing a 27-yard scoring pass to Chris Crane. It was set up by Mike Pittman’s 19-yard run. The second drive took 5:20 and was the product of five third-down conversions. David Lynch scored around left end from 11 yards with 9:49 remaining.

Navarro completed 15 of 22 passes for 231 yards while Davis, the national record holder, completed 10 of 14 for 115 yards. Orange Glen rushed for more yards too, 112 to 94.

But games aren’t won on paper.

The Patriots had a chance to win on a field goal even before Martell’s interception, but Aaron Blake’s 42-yard attempt with 4:15 left was wide.

Orange Glen was extraordinarily effective against Mira Mesa (9-3), surprising the Marauders with its first-half running attack. Jason Carroll rushed 15 times for 74 yards before exiting with 7:38 left in the second quarter with a knee injury. He also caught a 17-yard pass that helped Orange Glen on a 72-yard, 15-play drive in the first quarter to take a 7-6 lead.

After Carroll’s injury, Navarro went to work, completing five of six passes for 75 yards. The 90-yard second-quarter scoring drive ended on Shonta Chaloux’s one-yard run.