Kirchmeyer Helps El Toro Rally to Win

The more El Toro quarterback Tom Kirchmeyer was sacked, hurried and rained on Friday night, the better he got.

And fortunately for his Chargers, Kirchmeyer was at his best in the waning seconds against visiting Jurupa Valley.

With the Chargers out of timeouts with 36 seconds left and trailing by three points, Kirchmeyer was sacked at midfield. But he rebounded to complete two passes, the second an 11-yard touchdown completion that lifted El Toro to a 24-21 victory.

Kirchmeyer completed a fourth-and-13 pass to Vinnie Mascari with less than one minute left before being drilled for back-to-back sacks.

He came back, though, and threw to Randell Hill on third-and-22 for a 39-yard gain to the Jurupa Valley 11-yard line with 21 seconds left. Then, with the rain falling as hard as it had all night, Kirchmeyer found Mascari on a fade deep in the end zone for the deciding touchdown.

“That’s the way we planned it,” Kirchmeyer said. “We knew we just had to keep throwing the ball and get that score.”

Kirchmeyer, who passed for 151 yards and two touchdowns, completed four of seven passes in the 72-yard final scoring drive. He was sacked three times.

Mascari also had an interception for the Chargers (1-2), one of two Vaquero turnovers on the El Toro one-yard line.

Jurupa Valley’s Jovani Barajas led all rushers with 195 yards in 20 carries and gave the Vaqueros (0-3) a 13-12 lead with a 16-yard run early in the fourth quarter.

El Toro’s Nick Walsh (20 carries, 133 yards) answered with a one-yard plunge with 5:24 left to give the Chargers an 18-13 lead. But a late touchdown pass gave the Vaqueros a three-point lead with 3:25 left.