Century Surprises No. 8 Trabuco Hills

Ricky Odoardi, Century High School quarterback, pointed to his chest and proclaimed to no one in particular, “This win came from here. It was all heart.”

Odoardi engineered the biggest upset of the 1992 prep football season, leading Century to two second-half comebacks and a 21-20 victory over Trabuco Hills on a windy Saturday in Santa Ana Stadium.

Tailback Julio Garcia scored the winning touchdown on a three-yard run with 35 seconds remaining as Century (2-4-1, 1-1) scored its biggest victory in the school’s four-year history. The victory also put Century in a four-way tie for second place in the Pacific Coast League behind Estancia.

Trabuco Hills (6-1, 1-1) came into the game as the county’s eighth-ranked team, defeating rival Laguna Hills, 42-0, last week in a rematch of last year’s Southern Section Division VII championship game.

But Trabuco Hills Coach Jim Barnett was leery of a letdown Saturday. Still, the Mustangs didn’t appear to have too much to worry about after building a 14-0 lead at halftime.

Trabuco Hills’ defense, led by middle linebacker Chad Peare, dominated Century in the first half, limiting the Centurions to 13 yards rushing, one first down and no pass completions.

What’s more, Trabuco Hills quarterback Pat Barnes passed for 143 yards and a touchdown and had run for 48 yards and another score. The Mustangs’ seventh consecutive victory seemed secure until Century opened the second half with an unbalanced three-back offense.

Century’s offense came to life with the new alignment as Odoardi effectively ran an option that kept long, sustained drives alive and Barnes off the field. Century opened the third quarter with a 65-yard drive that took nine minutes to complete.

Odoardi capped the drive with a one-yard run, but more importantly, kept the momentum going by scoring a two-point conversion run to trim Trabuco Hills’ lead to 14-8 with 2:59 remaining in the quarter.

Then, Century got the break it needed when Trabuco Hills punter Matt Rechner couldn’t handle the snap and was tackled for an 11-yard loss by Century’s Joel Ramos on a fourth-down play.

Odoardi didn’t waste the opportunity, leading Century on a go-ahead drive that culminated with him throwing a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Abel Perez with 7:29 remaining. Julio Bonilla kicked the extra point to push Century ahead, 15-14.

The lead was short-lived, however. It took Barnes only three plays to regain the lead--the third being a 72-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mike Beyersdoerfer. Beyersdoerfer caught the ball at his 45-yard line, eluded one defender and ran untouched into the end zone.

In the excitement of regaining the lead, Barnes lost his composure on a two-point conversion attempt. He fumbled the snap and the Mustangs had to be content with a 20-15 lead with 6:21 remaining.

“More than anything, screwing up the two-point conversion hurt us,” Barnett said. “Pat got in a hurry and got excited. We get two points there and we still win the game no matter what Century did in the end.”

In the end, however, Century drove 75 yards in the final six minutes. It took a big assist from Trabuco Hills, which was penalized on the the Mustangs’ nine-yard line for having 12 players on the field. Garcia capped the drive with a three-yard run for the winning margin.

Afterward, Century Coach Bill Brown credited his team’s second-half, offensive adjustment for the upset.

“We didn’t want to use the three-back offense until the second half, so it was important that we stay close in the first half,” he said. “Things went exactly the way we wanted them to go. Yeah, this was the biggest win in our school’s history.”

Barnes had a productive day, completing 15 of 29 passes for 229 yards and two touchdowns. But he completed only three passes in the second half.

“They did a real nice job of playing ball control in the second half and keeping the ball out of our hands,” Barnes said.