Zaragoza, With Help From Above, Leads Magnolia to Win

Anthony Zaragoza, a quarterback who calls most of his own plays, deferred to coaches in the box overlooking the field at Valencia High Thursday night and it paid dividends.

Trailing by three points early in the fourth quarter, Zaragoza ran around right end for 14 yards and the winning touchdown and Magnolia held on to defeat defending Orange League champion Valencia, 18-15, in front of about 500 spectators.

It was the second victory for Magnolia (5-0-1) over Valencia (1-4-1) in the last two years and may be an indication that a new league power is on the rise. Magnolia hasn’t won a league title since the mid-1960s.

It wasn’t much of a surprise that the ball stayed in the hands of Zaragoza--the Sentinels’ Mr. Everything this year--on the most crucial play of the game. But it was the way the play came about that was different.

Trailing, 15-12, the Sentinels had marched from their nine-yard line to the Tiger 12 before an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Magnolia set the Sentinels back to the Tiger 20.

Three plays later, the drive had seemingly stalled and Zaragoza, who completed 10 of 21 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns, was thinking about a pass play on fourth and two at the Tiger 14.

But Sentinel Coach Bill Friedrich called a timeout and told Zaragoza that spotters saw a better way to exploit the Valencia secondary.

“They were trying to cheat into the middle of the field,” Zaragoza said. “I thought I could get around the end and I went ahead and boot-legged it.”

Friedrich said he never considered going for a field goal. There were more than 5 1/2 minutes left in the game and the Sentinel kicking game, he said, has left a lot to be desired this season.

“No way would we kick for it, we were going for the touchdown all the way,” he said. “We won’t win many games at Magnolia by kicking the ball.”

Valencia presented Magnolia, which has won only three Orange League games this decade, with a stiff test. The Tigers used a balanced running attack with Dan Maurin, Justin Lang and Vince Van Arsdale combining to gain 241 yards.

Valencia took a 2-0 lead when Zaragoza was called for intentionally grounding the ball on a pass from the end zone. The Tigers took an 8-0 lead on a seven-yard run by Maurin on the opening play of the second quarter.

But Zaragoza touchdown passes of 71 yards to Luis Ortiz and 30 yards to Jeremy Becker put Magnolia on top at halftime, 12-8.