SOUTHERN SECTION FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : El Toro’s Versatile Sango Runs Past Western, 41-23 : Division V: Chargers’ running back/wide receiver gains 108 yards rushing and catches five passes for 64 more.

El Toro’s Murle Sango, fresh from receiving a kiss on the forehead courtesy of Coach Mike Milner, was calm, at ease and exceedingly happy.

This was how it had been mapped out all week. El Toro had crushed Western, 41-23, at Glover Stadium Saturday in the Southern Section Division V semifinals. It earned the Chargers a spot in Saturday’s title game against Servite.

Sango and Milner had seen it coming, at least they had planned it this way.

“We knew they had a good defense, but I also knew if I could make some big plays it would get them down,” said Sango, a junior receiver/running back.

It did.

Western, playing in its second semifinal in 23 years, came into the game undefeated, but had seen enough by the end of the third quarter.

Sango caught five passes for 64 yards and rushed for 108 yards. More important, though, were the big plays.

He caught touchdown passes of 17 and 29 yards in the first half. He had a 35-yard run to set up a field goal. Sango also put the game out of reach with a one-yard touchdown run that gave the Chargers a 31-17 lead midway through the third quarter. Western (12-1) never got close again.

Sango’s performance was hardly a surprise. He is, after all, the Chargers’ leading receiver and went over 1,000 rushing for the season. He now has 21 touchdowns.

“I like being moved around in the offense like that,” Sango said. “I can come at them from different spots. It’s hard to find me.”

In the first quarter, quarterback Steve Krupp hit Sango in the flat at the Western 12-yard line. Sango blew past Western’s Peter Mendia at the five and Josh Burdett at the goal line for a 20-yard scoring play.

In the second quarter, Sango caught a quick screen, then burst up field and went untouched for a 29-yard touchdown pass play.

“We were skeptical about whether they could keep up with some of our players,” Milner said. “We thought we could get some big plays because we were faster.”

Milner got his wish, from Sango and Richard Oates.

Oates gained 148 yards running through big holes. His 51-yard touchdown run broke a 7-7 tie with 2 minutes 29 seconds left in the first quarter. Oates broke loose again in the third quarter. He was pulling away from the nearest defenders when his cleats caught and he fell. The play went for 55 yards and set up Sango’s last touchdown.

Quarterback Dean Chambers tried to keep the Pioneers close, completing 25 of 36 passes for 285 yards.

He completed his first six passes and was 11 of 14 for 143 yards by halftime. Chambers completed four passes for 65 yards on the Pioneers’ first possession, which ended with a one-yard touchdown run by Mueller.

Chambers later hit Vince Branstetter, who dragged defensive back Brent Chipperfield the last five yards on a 18-yard touchdown play.

But the Chargers (11-2) made two big defensive plays. Western turned the ball over three times, two were costly.

El Toro’s Matt Steinau recovered a fumble at the Western 25 to set up the second Krupp-to-Sango touchdown pass.

Western got to the El Toro five early in the second quarter. But on a third-down play, Jeremy Jarrett intercepted a pass in the end zone.

David Bell’s 51-yard field goal pulled Western to within a touchdown, 24-17, midway through the third quarter. Then the Chargers threw it into high gear.

Said El Toro lineman Matt Mason: “We gave them respect, then we gave them something more.”