Peninsula Can’t Unknot Its Tie

A classic tale-of-two-halves football game had a distinctly nontraditional ending Friday night as Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula and Manhattan Beach Mira Costa played to a 27-27 tie in a Bay League game at Mira Costa.

Peninsula (6-0-1 overall, 1-0-1 in league) used a dominant defense and a bruising running game to erase a 24-7 halftime deficit, but the Panthers couldn’t capitalize on two chances to win late in the game.

Ben Bobit, who returned the second-half kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown that cut Mira Costa’s lead to 24-14, missed an extra-point kick after the Panthers had tied the score at 27-27 on a one-yard plunge by quarterback Theo Nikolakopulos with 1 minute 11 seconds left.

After an Erik Pedersen interception gave the Peninsula the ball at the Mira Costa 28, Bobit missed a 41-yard field goal as time expired.

Early on, Mira Costa (3-3-1, 1-0-1), the four-time defending league champion, looked as if it would run away with the game. Britton Ertman had 184 of his 209 rushing yards and all three of his touchdowns in the first half.

Peninsula, however, allowed only 100 yards and three first downs in the second half.

-- Peter Yoon

Lake Elsinore Temescal Canyon 45, Temecula Valley 35 -- Each team scored twice in the first minute, but it was four turnovers by Temecula Valley that made the difference in the Southwestern League game at Temecula Valley.

Three first-half turnovers -- two fumbles and an interception -- were converted into 20 points by Temescal Canyon, which included 11- and 10-yard scoring runs by quarterback Myles Eden.

Eden finished with 11 carries for 91 yards, and Jared Zinda rushed 20 times for 159 and two touchdowns of seven yards as the Eagles (7-0, 2-0) gained 388 yards and put themselves in the driver’s seat for a third consecutive league title.

Antonio Williams carried 23 times for 200 yards and touchdowns of 79, nine, eight and one yard for Temecula Valley (4-3, 1-1), which finished with 436 total yards. Melvin Blackmon completed 16 of 30 passes for 230 yards and a 33-yard touchdown to Greg Waters, but he also had two passes intercepted.

Clark scored a pivotal touchdown late in the first half, taking a cross-field lateral pass from Joey Villegas on a kickoff return and covering 75 yards to give Temescal Canyon a 35-21 lead with less than two minutes left.

-- Martin Henderson

Pomona Diamond Ranch 21, Ontario Chaffey 7 -- Brandon Edwards rushed for 226 yards in 22 carries and scored twice to lead the Panthers in a Mt. Baldy League game at Chaffey.

Edwards scored on a seven-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter to give Diamond Ranch a 14-7 lead. He added a 62-yard touchdown run with 7:59 left.

Diamond Ranch (5-1-1, 2-0) had 151 total yards in the first half but did not score an offensive touchdown. Charles Brown, a 6-6, 250-pound defensive end who has committed to USC, knocked the ball from Chaffey quarterback Jorge Gonzalez midway through the second quarter and pounced on it in the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

Chaffey (6-1, 1-1), which had accumulated only nine total yards and no first downs to that point, followed with a six-play, 66-yard drive that was capped by running back David Naeta’s 10-yard touchdown reception from Gonzalez, tying the score, 7-7.

-- Dan Arritt