Hart Attack Ends Diablos’ Streak

Hart Coach Mike Herrington figured all his team had to do to beat defending champion Mission Viejo in Friday night’s Southern Section Division II semifinal was play a perfect game.

And the Indians almost did, controlling the clock and making key defensive stops to end the top-seeded Diablos’ 26-game winning streak with a 24-12 win at College of the Canyons.

“The kids were really focused all week and they came out ready to play,” said Herrington, whose team had been eliminated in the playoffs the previous two seasons by Mission Viejo, including a 50-20 blowout in the quarterfinals last season.

Tyler Lyon completed 17 of 21 passes for 260 yards and three touchdowns, including a 16-yard scoring pass to Taylor Embree with 3:24 left that gave the Indians (11-2) an insurmountable 24-10 lead.

Troy Yudin caught four passes for 126 yards and one touchdown and Lyon rushed for 45 yards, including a 35-yarder that set up Hart’s final score.

Known for its potent short-passing game, Hart used short runs to set up long passes. The change in strategy paid dividends in the second quarter. Lyon pitched to running back Delano Howell, who ran to his right on an apparent sweep. But Howell stopped short of the sideline and tossed the ball back to Lyon, who threw to Embree in the end zone to give Hart a 10-0 lead.

Mission Viejo (12-1) answered with a six-play, 73-yard drive that ended on quarterback R.J. Toman’s 12-yard run to cut Hart’s lead to 10-7.

Yudin caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Lyon to give Hart a 16-7 lead with 13 seconds left in the half.

Chane Moline rushed for 103 yards in 19 carries but fumbled at the Hart eight-yard line on the Diablos’ first drive of the third quarter.

Second-seeded Hart was the last team to beat Mission Viejo, 25-7, in the 2003 Division II title game to end the Diablos’ 41-game winning streak.

-- Steve Galluzzo

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Norco 43, Riverside La Sierra 36 -- Toby Gerhart rushed for a career-high 462 yards in 46 carries and scored six touchdowns at Riverside Norte Vista to lead the fourth-seeded Cougars to their third consecutive Division V final.

Gerhart, the state’s career rushing leader with 9,399 yards, scored on a 20-yard run with 6 minutes 11 seconds left and then had a two-point conversion to give Norco (12-1) a 43-36 lead.

La Sierra (10-3) quickly moved to the Norco one, but senior quarterback Sean Sudol fumbled a handoff to Sam Epsteen and Norco’s Jordan Campbell recovered with 5:09 left.

Sudol completed 23 of 32 passes for 325 yards and four touchdowns, giving him 48 scoring passes for the season.

Dan Arritt

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Placentia Valencia 19, La Palma Kennedy 13 -- Valencia limited Kennedy to 33 yards rushing, forced three turnovers and turned them into 10 points at home as the Tigers avenged a 35-28 regular-season loss in a Division VI semifinal.

The key turnover came when Valencia (12-1), clinging to a six-point lead, was forced to punt with 3:26 left. It was a poor punt that bounced several times before a Kennedy player attempted to pick it up, but the ball trickled away and Valencia’s Joe Castillo jumped on it at the Kennedy 43.

Fourth-seeded Kennedy (11-2) forced another punt with 1:27 to play, but Valencia’s defense held and the Tigers advanced to the finals for the first time since winning consecutive titles in 1991-92.

Valencia’s leading rusher Wes Fletcher was hit hard on a 19-yard run near the end of the first quarter. Dazed, he returned for a few more plays but left for good shortly thereafter with 83 yards in 10 carries.

Senior Alex Garcia replaced Fletcher and responded with 92 yards and a touchdown in 19 carries.

Peter Yoon

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Rancho Santa Margarita Tesoro 45, Covina 33 -- Sean Calcagnie rushed for 288 yards in 39 carries and scored five touchdowns for the host Titans (12-1) in a Division IX semifinal victory.

Calcagnie’s final score, a 52-yard touchdown with 1:22 left, gave him 35 this season, tops in Orange County. Art Combest finished with 220 yards and two touchdowns in 26 carries for Covina (11-2).

Todd Sciacqua completed 11 of 21 passes for 200 yards and a touchdown for top-seeded Tesoro.

-- Michael Besack