PREP EXTRA: SATURDAY FOOTBALL PULLOUT : Brea-Olinda Defense Holds Savanna When It Counts

Mike Beamer stood on the sideline, watching Brea-Olinda teammate Jerome Owens score with 2 minutes 46 seconds left in the game, and worried.

Beamer, a junior free safety, had seen enough of Savanna quarterback Jeremy Klemp to know 2:46 was an eternity.

“I thought we scored too soon,” he said.

It might have been, except Beamer wrestled the ball from Lee Myers in midair with 33 seconds remaining--in the end zone--to seal Brea’s 24-20 Orange League victory over the seventh-ranked Rebels in front of a homecoming crowd of 3,000.

There were seven lead changes--one with every score--and nothing was certain until Beamer, 5 feet 9, 160 pounds, jumped in front of Klemp’s pass.

It ended a drive that began on Savanna’s 18 with 2:40 to go, and was kept alive by a fourth-down pass interference penalty against Erik Taylor--who earlier had prevented a touchdown by intercepting a Klemp pass in the end zone with 1:38 left in the first half.

But when the Rebels reached the 27--converting a third-and-12 situation to get there--Klemp’s magic ran out.

Klemp, who came in as the county’s second-rated passer, finished 17 of 21 for 259 yards and two touchdowns.

Brea’s winning drive began with 10:35 left in the fourth quarter and covered 73 yards and 16 plays, a key one being Jerome Owens’ 14-yard draw on a third and 10 at the Brea 27.

Owens eventually scored from one yard, capping a 197-yard performance.

“I thought we could run the ball if we could be patient,” Brea Coach Jon Looney said.

The game of keep-away was successful enough to move Brea into first place in the Orange League. The Wildcats are 6-1-1, 2-0-1; Savanna is 6-2, 2-1.

Klemp threw two second-half touchdown passes, five yards to Dedrick Ennis, and 48 to Barry Michael.

Sandwiched in the middle of those two scores was Josh Smith’s fumble recovery: from the one Owens fumbled into the end zone and Smith, a Brea lineman, pounced on the ball for a touchdown, giving the Wildcats a 17-14 lead.

Both teams marched on the other on the game’s first three possessions. Brea had a field goal, of 25 yards, by Tommy Prenovost, and then Jerome Owens made it 10-7 when he scored from three yards.

Owens touchdown capped a nine-play, 69-yard drive that took only 3:05.

But Savanna’s first scoring drive took even less time. The Rebels covered 58 yards in 1:53. The big play was a 31-yard pass from Jeremy Klemp to Lee Myers, and Daven King scored from one yard to give Savanna a brief 7-3 lead. It was King’s 14th touchdown.