Saddleback Rallies, Beats Long Beach

Faith was the word mentioned over and over by Saddleback’s players and coaches after the Gauchos rallied to beat host Long Beach, 29-28, Saturday in a dramatic Mission Conference game.

Coach Bill Cunerty had enough faith in his team--ranked second in the nation--to go for two points instead of kicking the extra point and trying to win in overtime.

Saddleback (4-0) led, 21-7, at the half but trailed, 28-21, when quarterback Justin Vedder led the team on an 80-yard scoring drive. He threw 18 yards to Mark Reynosa, who won a battle for the ball, for a touchdown to cap the drive with 37 seconds left.

“We really hadn’t been stopping them very much in the second half,” Cunerty said. “But the real reason we went for two is because I believe in our kids.”

Vedder had faith in his team despite offensive woes that had seen the Gauchos gain only 22 yards in the third quarter as Long Beach (3-1) started to blitz more. Long Beach is ranked seventh in the nation.

Vedder was four of seven for 71 yards in the final drive. He finished with a career-best 377 yards as he completed 27 of 41 passes with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

“We showed exactly what we are made of,” Vedder said. “I just told everyone we had to stay calm.”

Just to snap the ball on the two-point conversion showed a large measure of faith by Vedder.

Cunerty had called for receiver Gabe Payne, who lined up wide to the right, to take an end around but Long Beach suddenly had two extra defenders on the left side.

Vedder said he considered calling time out but elected just to “go for it.”

Payne took the hand off and broke past two defenders for the score.

That Payne was even in the game was somewhat remarkable considering he had been leveled after catching a 21-yard pass earlier in the drive.

“Coach has such faith in us,” Payne said. “I was excited to get the ball. I just did my best to get into the end zone.”

The loss ended Long Beach’s 14-game winning streak and extended Saddleback’s to 10. It also ended Long Beach’s 19-game home winning streak.

El Camino 42, Orange Coast 35--William League rushed for 191 yards in 19 carries and four touchdowns but it was not enough as El Camino won.

League started the scoring frenzy with a 33-yard touchdown run in the first quarter giving Orange Coast a 7-0 lead. El Camino countered with field goal followed by a touchdown on an 80-yard run by Lloyd McCoy.

In the second quarter, League added two more touchdowns, a one-yard run and a 75-yard run to close out the second-quarter scoring with Orange Coast trailing El Camino, 21-28.

Between League’s two touchdown runs, El Camino kept pace with a one-yard touchdown run by Derrick Norris and 16 yard touchdown pass to Lloyd McCoy from Damion Ward.

The second half of the game was highlighted by a 95-yard kick off return by El Camino’s Brian Jones to put El Camino up 35-21.

Rancho Santiago 34, San Diego Mesa 0--Mark Fausto threw for two touchdowns as visiting Rancho Santiago recorded its first victory, defeating Mission Conference rival San Diego Mesa.

The Rancho Santiago defense held San Diego Mesa to minus-one yard in the first half and 12 yards for the game.

Rancho Santiago quarterback Mark Fausto completed 13 of 22 passes for 194 yards and two touchdowns, one in the first quarter on a 43-yard pass to Mike Ogas. The other came in the second quarter on a 15-yard pass to Jon Daniels. Daniels caught six passes for 58 yards in the game.

Tristan Lynch had three interception, one of those returned 45 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.