PREP EXTRA / SATURDAY FOOTBALL PULLOUT : Cleary’s Field Goals Give Garden Grove 25-12 Victory

Sophomore Ryan Cleary connected on three field goals, the longest from 49 yards, to help propel Garden Grove to a 25-12 victory over Pacifica in a Garden Grove League game Friday night at Bolsa Grande Stadium.

Cleary hit on tries of 38, 44 and 49 yards.

“We felt that it was as good as a punt,” Coach Ralph Stevens said.

Cleary gave Garden Grove (3-2, 2-0 in league) a 3-0 lead with his 38-yard field goal and Garden Grove increased its advantage to 5-0 when Darrel Paplia tackled Mike Fernandez in the end zone for a safety.

Pacifica (1-4, 0-2) took its only lead of the game when Tommy Summers scored from 11 yards, but the two-point conversion effort failed.

Garden Grove quickly regained the advantage on the next play from scrimmage, when Troy Haller hit Gerardo Lopez with a 67-yard touchdown pass and Cleary’s conversion made the lead 12-6.

Cleary hit a 44-yard field goal with 22 seconds left in the first half to increase the Garden Grove lead to 15-6.

Pacifica put together a 63-yard scoring drive capped by a three-yard scoring run by Summers on the opening drive of the second half to cut the lead to 15-12.

The Argonauts regained a six-point lead on Cleary’s 49-yard field goal with 48 seconds left in the third quarter.

Pacifica’s final opportunity to tie and possibly take the lead was stopped midway in the final quarter when a fourth-down pass was dropped and Garden Grove put the game out of reach on Ruben Reyna’s 18-yard touchdown run with 2:18 left.