Terzian Saves Harvard-Westlake, 21-14

With Harvard-Westlake High’s running game going nowhere fast, John Terzian came to the rescue.

The junior quarterback, who threw an interception on his first pass, threw for 199 yards and a touchdown to lead the Wolverines to a 21-14 victory over Serra on Saturday in a Mission League opener.

Terzian completed 13 of 21 passes, including a 20-yard completion to Justin Logan with 28 seconds left that gave the Wolverines a first down at the Serra 10-yard line.

Running back Sam Hornblower scored the game winner two plays and seven seconds later, and slow-starting Harvard-Westlake (4-2) celebrated its second come-from-behind victory this season.

“It’s bad to start games [sluggishly],” Terzian said. “But that’s what our team does. In the second half, we come alive.”

The Wolverines certainly needed a spark after Serra’s Jameel Powell opened the second half with a 93-yard kick return for a touchdown to make it 14-0. Harvard-Westlake started its first drive with a five-yard penalty and an eight-yard loss.

But then came Terzian’s two most important completions.

Facing second and 23 from his 33, Terzian connected with Steve Durbin for 28 yards. He hit a wide open Logan over the middle for a 39-yard touchdown to make it 14-7.

“They were covering the run and the linebackers were shifting,” Terzian said.

Who knows why the Cavaliers (3-2-1) were guarding the run so heavily with the Wolverines averaging only 2.8 yards per rush in 23 attempts. But they continued, and Terzian burned them again.

Terzian passed over the middle to Durbin, who romped 48 yards to the Serra two. Hornblower ran it in on the next play to make it 14-14.

Harvard-Westlake’s Jon Barry missed a 31-yard field-goal attempt with 2:37 left, but the Wolverines got the ball back with 40 seconds left after Serra punted out of its end zone.

On second and 10 from the Cavalier 30, Terzian beat a Serra blitz by lobbing the ball over the middle to Logan, whose 20-yard catch and run set up Hornblower’s winning score.

Hornblower finished with 60 yards in 16 carries. Logan had four receptions for 78 yards and Durbin two for 76. Harvard-Westlake limited the Cavaliers to 10 net yards in 32 carries and sacked quarterback Kris Richard four times.