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JSerra football ends up losing to Damien in the final minute

August 30, 2025

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — JSerra’s youth and inexperience was costly Friday in a thrilling 34-31 loss to Damien in a nonleague game at JSerra High.

The Lions (0-2) took the lead in the final minute of the game after backup quarterback Gino Wang engineered a 96-yard scoring drive to put JSerra ahead 31-27 with 54 seconds left in the game.

Damien (2-0) answered with an 80-yard touchdown drive to win the game. Quarterback Isaiah Arriaza ran for an 8-yard touchdown with three seconds left in the game to give the Spartans a 34-31 lead.

The scoring drive was aided by two crushing penalties by JSerra’s defense. Midway through the drive, Dylan Brown intercepted a pass for JSerra, but the play was negated by a roughing the passer penalty on the Lions.

Later in the drive, JSerra committed a costly pass interference penalty in the red zone to give Damien an extra down.

“We have a young group that keeps improving and is athletic, but you see some of the inexperience show up at the wrong times,” JSerra coach Victor Santa Cruz said. “Obviously the scoreboard matters to us and we want to win, but there are things as you take a step back and take perspective, the team is talented, young and new to football. We have a team that’s going to be really good as they keep growing up.”

JSerra has just three returning starters from last year’s defense and allowed 614 yards of offense from Damien.

Arriaza was dominant for Damien with a career-high 410 yards passing with two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns.

“I’m so proud of this team,” Arriaza said. “We worked our tail off and showed it. We beat a Trinity League team and will continue building on this.”

“He’s a heck of a competitor and you can see how he extends plays and keeps his eyes down field,” Santa Cruz said of Arriaza. “I knew going into the game that he is a heck of a player and he put the team on his back today. It’s only fitting that he finished the game.”

JSerra made the switch to Wang in the fourth quarter and he delivered with the go-ahead touchdown drive capped by a 23-yard pass to Clark Cokley. Santa Cruz said offensive coordinator Rudy Carlton made the decision to put Wang in the game.

“It was just changing the rhythm of everything,” Santa Cruz said. “Coach Carlton knows those quarterbacks really well and what we needed for the offense. Obviously it paid off.”

“I just trusted my teammates, was ready when my number was called and did what I knew I could do,” Wang said.

JSerra backup quarterback Gino Wang led a go-ahead 96-yard scoring drive in the final minute of JSerra's 34-31 loss to Damien on Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. (Photo by Michael Huntley) — JSerra backup quarterback Gino Wang led a go-ahead 96-yard scoring drive in the final minute of JSerra’s 34-31 loss to Damien on Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. (Photo by Michael Huntley)

JSerra opened the game with a 42-yard touchdown run by Will Fredericksen to give the Lions their first points of the season and a 7-0 lead.

Damien responded immediately with a 66-yard touchdown pass from Arriaza to Osorio to cut the lead to 7-6.

Koa Smith-Mayall threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Fredericksen to give the Lions a 14-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Arriaza threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Travon Garrison Jr. to make the score 14-12.

JSerra kicker Noah Thayer made a career-long 53-yard field goal to give the Lions a 17-12 lead late in the second quarter, but Arriaza ran for a touchdown to give Damien a 20-17 lead at halftime.

Malachi McFarland ran for a touchdown for Damien to open the second half and Smith-Mayall threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Cruz Nunez for JSerra in the third quarter.

Smith-Mayall threw for 194 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for JSerra. Fredericksen ran for 87 yards on seven carries.

McFarland ran for 136 yards with a touchdown for Damien. Osorio caught 13 passes for 228 yards with a touchdown.

JSerra is 0-2 for the first time since the pandemic-shortened 2021 spring season. The Lions have never started 0-2 in a 10-game season in school-history.

“We are going to look at the penalties and why that is,” Santa Cruz said. “There’s an eagerness with the youth of this team, but it needs to be disciplined. They are learning.”

JSerra will play Kamehameha Kapalama of Hawaii on the road next Friday.

JSerra football ends up losing to Damien in the final minute Orange County Register

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JSerra football ends up losing to Damien in the final minute

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