Capistrano Valley Christian Rallies to Beat Maranatha

Capistrano Valley Christian’s offense awoke in time to rally for a 14-10 victory over Sierra Madre Maranatha Saturday at Laguna Beach High School.

Trailing by three with 1 minute 12 seconds left in the game, Capistrano Valley Christian’s Jamie Bray scored on a six-yard run to finish a 69-yard drive.

The Eagles had gotten the ball on their 31-yard line with 3:22 left. Jason Ward connected with Tyler Graves for a 30-yard pass play to move the ball into Maranatha territory.

On fourth and six at the 25 with 2:04 left, Capistrano Valley Christian set up for a 42-yard field goal attempt, but Maranatha jumped offside to make it fourth and one. Bray got the first down to keep the drive alive.

Maranatha scored first with 2:11 remaining in the first quarter when running back Anthony Coleman capped a 40-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run.

Capistrano Valley Christian had the ball on its 36-yard line in the second quarter when Maranatha linebacker Bobby Meyers intercepted a pass by Ward. Maranatha’s Garrett Noonan made a 27-yard field goal for a 10-0 halftime lead.

Capistrano Valley Christian managed only 50 yards of total offense in the first half.

“We couldn’t get anything going in that first half and we knew we had to change some things up in the second half,” Capistrano Valley Christian Coach Keith Patefield said. “We’d been working on running a no-huddle offense and we decided to put it to work.”

Bray, who gained seven yards in nine carries in the first half, ran for 61 yards on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. That helped set up a three-yard quarterback sneak by Ward to cut the lead to 10-7.

“I can’t say enough about the way Jamie Bray played tonight,” Patefield said. “He really stepped up big for us in the second half.”