Moorpark Goes for Two, Comes Up Short by One

Trailing by 14 points at halftime and all the momentum on the side of upset-minded Bishop Diego High, Moorpark came swarming back Saturday only to be denied, 21-20, and suffered its first loss of the season.

With just over two minutes to play, senior running back Bryan Wilkins brought the Musketeers (6-1) to within one point on a five-yard run, set up by the first of two blocked punts by Quan Nguyen.

Coach Rob Dearborn decided to go for the victory, and on a sweep to the left Wilkins was stopped by five red jerseys.

“We had to go for two,” Dearborn said. “It’s a nonleague game. We had to go for the win.”

After Nguyen’s second blocked punt with 50 seconds remaining, Moorpark started on the Bishop Diego 37-yard line and drove to the five. However, when Wilkins failed to get out of bounds after catching a pass from Bryan Paul with eight seconds left and no timeouts remaining, the Musketeers couldn’t get the field goal unit on the field .

Moorpark scored both of its comeback touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

“You’ve got to play four quarters, not just one, to win a football game, “ Dearborn said.

Wilkins led the comeback, carrying 26 times for 151 yards and a touchdown, and also threw to wide receiver David Burns for a 29-yard touchdown on a halfback option pass with 4:13 remaining to make it 21-14.

Paul finished 12 of 17 for 107 yards and a 28-yard touchdown to Tyler Dritz midway through the second quarter.

Gabriel Sanchez carried 21 times for 144 yards and a touchdown for Bishop Diego (2-5). Sanchez also had a 96-yard interception return for a touchdown as time expired in the first half to give the Cardinals a 21-7 lead.