El Toro Stops San Clemente’s Two-Point Try

Danny Coviello’s touchdown pass to Chris Smith put San Clemente in position to tie El Toro with 56 seconds left, but a two-point conversion run failed and Chargers defeated the host Tritons, 32-30, in a South Coast League game Friday night.

Smith’s 14-yard catch and run capped a 12-play El Toro drive covering 2 minutes 20 seconds.

But the Charger defense--which was led by Steven Casciotti’s three sacks--held fast when it had to, and Smith’s conversion run was stopped short of the goal line.

The Chargers (4-3, 1-1) took a 25-24 fourth-quarter lead on a one-yard dive by quarterback Evan Whitaker. The play was set up by a 97-yard kickoff return by Ashkan Nazeri, who also had a 73-yard kickoff return in the first quarter.

Ryan Switzer (86 yards in 18 carries) later gave the Chargers a 32-24 edge on a one-yard run with 3:20 to go.

Josh McCarthy (four catches for 109 yards) gave the Tritons a 21-18 lead in the third quarter with an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown after taking a reverse handoff from Smith.

James Allen finished with 88 yards in 17 carries for the Tritons (4-3, 1-1).

The Chargers’ Nick Walsh left the field on a stretcher after suffering an injury on a second-quarter kickoff. He was transported by ambulance to San Clemente Hospital after a 20-minute delay. The severity of his injury was unknown.