South Wins on Johnson’s Kick

It looked like a rerun from last year, another North-South all-star football game that was only fit to be tied.

But Brian Fort of Santa Ana Valley gave the South a final shot by intercepting an Archie Lappin pass near midfield with 25 seconds left. San Clemente quarterback Chris Hayward was not going to let the South’s first victory since 1992 slip away.

Hayward--who completed 11 of 15 passes (with one interception) for 139 yards and a touchdown--passed 22 yards to Triton teammate Greg Lang, taking the South to the North’s 31-yard line. After a two-yard run by Santa Margarita’s Billy Newman, El Toro’s Chad Johnson calmly nailed a 46-yard field goal with one second left to lift the South to its 17-14 victory in front of an estimated 5,000 at Orange Coast College.

“I knew it was good the moment I hit it,” a jubilant Johnson said. “This was the first time I had kicked without using a tee, but after making a couple of extra points during the game I realized it was no big deal.”

The win was a big deal to South and Santa Margarita Coach Jim Hartigan, who saw the North rally from an early 14-0 deficit to tie score in the third quarter.

A 28-yard touchdown pass from Los Alamitos’ Sean Stein to Orange Lutheran’s Michael Crawford--who just stayed inbounds at the back of the end zone--was the equalizer.

“Even with the early lead I told our guys at halftime that the intensity was going to pick up,” Hartigan said. “I said, ‘Hey, those guys over there are all-stars too, and they’re going to pick it up in the second half,’ which they did.”

But even in tying the score, the North--which had a couple of fumbles and an interception--seemed to spend much of the night beating itself.

The game began on a disastrous note for the North.

On the first play, from the 18-yard line, North quarterback Lappin of Loara rolled out to the left and was swarmed by the South defense. Not only did Lappin lose six yards, he fumbled the ball. Santa Margarita linebacker Damian Minna picked it up and chugged the remaining 12 yards for a touchdown.

The South kept the early momentum when it got the ball. Starting at the 42, Hayward moved his team 58 yards in seven plays, culminating in an eight-yard touchdown pass to Newman.

Again the North contributed to its own demise. It had the South stopped on a third down incomplete pass, but was flagged for a personal foul that kept the drive going. That was all the South needed to double its score.

“I thought then this was going to be our night,” said Hayward, named the game’s most valuable player.

By the second quarter the North had settled down, and in the final two minutes of the half got a lift with its first touchdown.

Troy’s Kyion Grayes put the North in business with a 35-yard burst through the right side, taking the ball from the North 48 to the South 15. Five plays later on fourth down, Lappin squeezed into the end zone from two yards with 27 seconds to play.