Picture This: Reseda Upsets San Fernando

After knocking San Fernando High on its collective posterior Friday night, a keepsake was taken for posterity.

With his band of beaming players circled around him, Reseda Coach Joel Schaeffer couldn’t resist.

“Somebody take a picture,” Schaeffer yelped with a grin.

It’s unquestionably a shot that will end up on the coach’s cluttered office bulletin board as the Regents shocked San Fernando, 13-11, in a Northwest Valley Conference game at San Fernando.

The victory was the 100th in Schaeffer’s career--and probably will rank among his all-time top five in terms of magnitude and tension. Despite pushing the Tigers (6-2, 4-1 in league play) all over the field, scrappy Reseda (6-2, 3-2) nearly gave it away in a nail-biting fourth quarter.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, fullback Travion Trammel banged over the left side from the one-yard line to hand Reseda a 13-3 lead. Reseda, seemingly cruising, held the Tigers on downs on their next possession.

However, on third and 17 at the Reseda 48, quarterback Reggie James lobbed a middle screen pass into a slew of defenders. The biggest of the Tigers on the field, 6-foot-4, 210-pound lineman Kilian Young, had the ball fall right into his arms. Young rumbled 45 yards for a touchdown with 7 minutes 47 seconds left. Heard on the Reseda sideline: Gulp.

“That left me wide open to be second-guessed,” Schaeffer said.

Tiger quarterback Leon Blunt--who failed to complete a pass in four attempts--connected with tailback Derrick Rowe for the two-point conversion, bringing the Tigers to within 13-11.

Again, all Reseda needed was to milk the clock, but it wasn’t in the script. On the fourth play of the Regents’ ensuing possession, senior tailback DeWayne Johnson (91 yards in 15 carries) fumbled at midfield, Rowe recovered and returned the ball to the Reseda 40 with 5:18 left. Heard on the Reseda sideline: Gasp.

Blunt, who has burned a handful of teams with fourth-quarter dramatics, couldn’t pull out another last-ditch victory. On fourth and seven at the 37, Blunt scrambled squarely into the arms of linebacker Cesar Flores. Blunt was three feet shy of a first down.

“Everybody stayed home on the play,” Schaeffer said.

Not Flores, actually. He transferred to Reseda from Littlerock a month ago. The Regents, who held San Fernando to 156 yards, killed the final 2:43.

“I knew we were gonna pull it off,” Johnson said. “They were ready to get beat. I think it’s time people noticed Reseda. We’re a good all-around team.”