Forbath Kicks Knights to Win

Struggling on defense and lacking big plays on offense, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame turned to its All-American kicker, Kai Forbath, for a badly needed boost Friday night against defending City Section champion Lake Balboa Birmingham.

In the final 22 seconds before halftime, the UCLA-bound Forbath kicked field goals of 42 and 57 yards, wiping out a 9-7 deficit and sending the Knights to a hard-fought 27-22 intersectional victory at Birmingham, their 23rd consecutive win.

“It totally brought the whole team up,” said Forbath, whose 57-yard field goal was a career best and one yard short of tying the school record. “It was crazy. It was such a great feeling.”

There were five lead changes, with Notre Dame, ranked No. 4 in the Southland by The Times, finally taking charge in the fourth quarter when Rodney Glass scored touchdowns on runs of 12 and five yards. The last came with 3:13 left to give the Knights a 27-16 advantage.

But Birmingham, a young team that played with poise and confidence, closed to within 27-22 with 36 seconds left on quarterback James Belloff’s 46-yard touchdown pass play to Kevin Armstead.

Belloff, a 6-foot-4 junior making his first varsity start, passed for 192 yards. The Patriots’ defense had two interceptions and featured strong play from sophomore defensive ends Malik and Marquis Jackson.

Glass rushed for 114 yards in 18 carries. Notre Dame quarterback Garrett Green, who has been slowed by a sore shoulder, passed for only 38 yards but ran for 122. Birmingham sophomore running back Milton Knox gained 130 yards in 20 carries and scored two touchdowns.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Rancho Cucamonga 38, Fontana Kaiser 34 -- Quarterback Josh Fellhauer found Willie Munford in the end zone on a 14-yard pass play with 15 seconds left to give No. 22 Rancho Cucamonga a comeback victory at Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos High.

Fellhauer, who completed 22 of 30 passes for 331 yards, led the Cougars to 31 second-half points. He finished with three touchdown passes and his favorite target on the evening, Vincent Brown, had nine receptions for 140 yards and a touchdown.

Kaiser led by two touchdowns as late as the third quarter. Pete Escarcega gave Rancho Cucamonga a momentary lead when he stripped Kaiser quarterback Gabriel Crus at the Cougars’ 15-yard line and returned it for a touchdown with 4:11 left in the fourth quarter.

The Cats then retook the lead on an 11-yard carry by Jamaal Smith. The play was set up by a pass attempt that Cougar cornerback Devin Ross intercepted, but when he came down with the ball, he was stripped by Kaiser’s Deckar Alexander. The result: a 43-yard net gain for Kaiser.

Lonyae Smith, a transfer from Rialto, had two touchdowns and 159 yards in 21 carries in his Kaiser debut.

-- Jonathan Abrams

Valencia 35, La Puente Bishop Amat 21 -- Shane Vereen, a junior running back, racked up 218 yards of total offense in the first half and accounted for three touchdowns to help the No. 13 Vikings pull away for a nonleague victory at No. 19 Bishop Amat.

Vereen, the son of former NFL player Henry Vereen, scored on a 69-yard run on the opening drive of the game. His 49-yard touchdown pass to Jason Engelberg, after catching a lateral from quarterback Michael Herrick, gave the Vikings (1-0) a 14-7 lead, and his eight-yard run while playing quarterback out of the shotgun formation stretched it to 21-7.

Leg cramps limited Vereen in the second half, but he finished with 151 yards rushing in 15 carries and five catches for 112 yards.

“I feel I have a bigger role than last year,” said Vereen, who rushed for 1,389 yards and scored 32 touchdowns last season. “This year, I feel like I should step up and be more of a leader.”

Herrick, who threw for 4,065 yards and 27 touchdowns last season, delivered his own strong performance, passing for 357 yards and a touchdown and rushing for another.

Bishop Amat fell to 1-1.

-- Dan Arritt