Antelopes Fall Short of Final Goal

A yellow slicker protected Brent Newcomb from the constant rain that pounded the Southern Section Division II semifinal Saturday night.

The reality had just begun to soak in, however, that his Antelope Valley High football team’s remarkable postseason run had come to a sudden end.

“What do you say at this point,” said the veteran coach, whose team fell to Ayala, 28-27, when a two-point conversion was stuffed with less than four minutes left at Cal State Fullerton.

“It was like everything was going great, then, bam, you hit a brick wall.”

That wall had a name. It was Kris Mitchell.

Ayala’s defensive end hit Andrew Campbell in the Antelope backfield on the fateful point-after attempt with 3:29 remaining.

The third-seeded Bulldogs (11-1), who will meet top-seeded Peninsula (13-0) Friday for the title, ran out the rest of the clock. It will be the Bulldogs’ second consecutive trip to the final.

“I think we should have probably gone for one [point],” said Campbell, who caught a tipped pass from Justin Mobley in a crowd for a touchdown that pulled Antelope Valley (8-4) within 28-27.

Said Newcomb: “Maybe I out-coached myself on that. I thought Andrew could pound it in.”

He did just about everything else.

He blocked a point-after kick. He returned one Bulldog fumble 35 yards for a touchdown, and he was a regular presence on defense.

With a heavy rain constantly pelting the turf, fumbles played a major role. Antelope Valley lost two of 10 fumbles, while Ayala lost three of five.

No turnover hurt more than the last one.

Antelope punter Russell Griffith mishandled a snap at his 35. By the time it was downed, the ball had slithered all the way to his one.

Bulldog Matt Johnson scored on the next play, and quarterback Mike Frost added a two-point run for a 28-21 lead with 8:29 left. Johnson finished with 140 yards and two touchdowns in 21 carries.

But the Antelopes had received most of the breaks all night, and the trend continued. At least a while longer.

Earlier in the fourth quarter, Griffith caught a tipped pass and turned it into a 59-yard touchdown play and a 21-14 Antelope lead.

After Ayala’s Brian White caught a 60-yard touchdown pass from Frost, Campbell got a hand on the PAT attempt and the Antelopes still led, 21-20.

Antelope Valley fumbled three times on its subsequent march down field. Each time, it was recovered by an Antelope or bounced out of bounds, eventually allowing Campbell to make a remarkable catch amid a convention of about eight players.

“I thought we were going to do it again,” said Mobley, who completed all three of his pass attempts for 87 yards and two touchdowns.

Mobley, who transferred to Antelope Valley after leading Antelope Valley Christian to a Southern Section Eight-Man title as a sophomore, also ran for 116 yards and another touchdown in 20 carries.

In two years as quarterback, he never got past the semifinals.

“And that’s why I came here,” he said.