A Late-Season Call-Up Comes Up Big for La Mirada

The game that was supposed to be for the Southern Section Division VI title lived up to every expectation.

Jarred Martin, one of La Mirada’s smallest players, on the varsity for only four weeks, turned into a hero with two sweeping movements of his leg.

Martin kicked a 43-yard field goal with two seconds remaining in regulation, then struck a 21-yarder in overtime to send his teammates and most of the 7,000 at La Mirada High into a frenzy with a 13-10 semifinal victory over third-seeded Newport Harbor.

“Greatest feeling ever,” Martin said as teammates came up to thank him. “After that one [in regulation], this one was nothing.”

It was something, though. La Mirada (11-1) goes into the section final on Friday against Lakewood Mayfair, a team it tied for the Suburban League title.

It also ended a streak for the Sea View League. It will be the first title game played without a Sea View team since 1987.

The drive to the tying field goal started at the five-yard line with 2:13 remaining, and a series of short passes by Chris Moreno--who completed nine of 22 for 106 yards with one interception--got the ball to the Newport Harbor 26-yard line.

Then Martin, a 5-foot-9, 135-pound junior who was summoned to the varsity the last week of the regular season after Kevin Smith broke his ankle, worked his magic. His field goal was good with room to spare.

Newport Harbor’s Adam Kerns missed a 27-yard field goal attempt in the overtime, before Martin struck gold again.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team cry after beating us,” said Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley. “I guess it means they’re moving up the ladder.”

The Sailors (10-2-1) had been to the final the last two seasons, and were trying to get there for the fourth time in six years.

In a defensive struggle, Newport Harbor tied the score, 7-7, with 5:45 left in the game on a six-yard touchdown pass from Morgan Craig to Jon Vandersloot, capping a 74-yard drive. The Sailors took the lead with 2:13 remaining on Kerns’ 39-yard field goal.

Newport Harbor and La Mirada were ranked 1-2 in the final Southern Section poll, and if not for Newport Harbor losing an intersectional game to Westchester in Week 10, and La Mirada losing a coin flip, the teams certainly would have been seeded that way going into the playoffs.

Instead, La Mirada was the third-place entry from the Suburban League, which had a three-way tie for first, and was unseeded.

Newport Harbor defeated La Mirada in the semifinals last season, 35-16, when the Matadores were unbeaten and seeded No. 1.

La Mirada, in its third year in Division VI, reached the finals five of seven years in Division VIII, and won in 1992.