PREP EXTRA / FRIDAY FOOTBALL PULLOUT : Trabuco Hills Gets Break, Beats Capistrano Valley

This probably won’t comfort Capistrano Valey High’s Blake Laidlaw too much now, but life isn’t always fair and that’s just the way it goes sometimes.

Unluckily for Laidlaw, he happened to be the guy whom misfortune floored Thursday night when his costly error with 1 minute 1 second left led to Trabuco Hills’ winning score in a 21-14 South Coast League victory in front of approximately 1,500 at Trabuco Hills.

With Capistrano Valley at its 30-yard line and only 1 minute 1 second to play in a 14-14 tie, Laidlaw, the Cougars’ junior long snapper, snapped the ball over punter Chris Culbertson’s head. Culbertson finally caught up to the ball at the Cougars’ two-yard line and was tackled there by the Mustangs’ De Sha Runnels.

On the next play, Trabuco Hills running back Bobby Johnson (14 carries for 64 yards) took the handoff from quarterback Chad Collins and scored to give the Mustangs a 20-14 lead. Mike Junge’s point-after provided the final point for Trabuco Hills (8-2, 4-1 in league).

“I’m just going to tell him to keep his chin up,” said Cougar Coach Eric Patton, whose team dropped to 5-5 and 2-3. “It’s too bad.”

Capistrano Valley sophomore quarterback Tim Hirchag, who completed only four of 14 passes for 51 yards, tried to rally the team with 34 seconds remaining and the Cougars at their 26-yard line. But Trabuco Hills defensive back Bryan Carter made his second interception of the game with nine seconds left.

Capistrano Valley sophomore running back Malaefou MacKenzie gained 100 yards in 25 carries. He had one rushing touchdown and one on a kickoff return.

MacKenzie caught the second-half kickoff at the Cougar six-yard line. He ran through the middle of the Mustangs’ coverage team until reaching the Trabuco Hills’ 40-yard line, where he changed direction and went down the left sideline for the remainder of a 94-yard touchdown return. Jason Purvis caught a two-point conversion pass from Hirchag to give the Cougars a 14-7 lead.

But the Mustangs tied the score on their next possession on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Collins to Bryan Flournoy and Mike Junge’s point-after kick.

Trabuco Hills led, 7-6, after a mostly uneventful first 24 minutes of play. Each team scored on its opening drive and then went 0 for the rest of the half.

The Mustangs appeared poised to take control quickly when running back Johnson grabbed a handoff from Pintsak and outran the Cougars’ defense into the left corner of the end zone with 8:40 remaining in the first quarter.

Capistrano Valley closed the half’s scoring when MacKenzie ran the ball in from the one-yard line with 17 seconds to play in the first quarter.