Servite football tops Long Beach Poly in playoffs with thrilling finish in overtime

• November 11, 2023

NORWALK — Eighteen years ago, Servite scored one of the bigger upsets of the 2005 football season when it beat Long Beach Poly in the CIF Southern Section quarterfinals.

The Friars did it again Friday.

Servite defeated Poly 27-20 in overtime at Cerritos College in the CIF-SS Division 2 quarterfinals.

Long Beach Poly (10-2) had lost only one game going into Friday. That was to Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas, the No. 1 team in many of the national rankings.

Servite (7-5) will play at Serra in the semifinals Friday, Nov. 17. Serra defeated Los Alamitos 38-28 in their quarterfinal game Friday.

The Friars, who were 1-9 last season, had a chance to win it in regulation. Running back Gavin Gutierrez scored on a 4-yard run with 1:24 remaining in the game. The point-after kick attempt was never actually attempted; the center-to-holder exchange went awry and with Poly players pounced on the loose ball.

Long Beach Poly drove quickly to the Servite 25, where a 37-yard field goal attempt on regulation’s final snap was wide left, so the game went into overtime.

Servite junior running back Quaid Carr scored on an 18-yard run and the point-after kick was good this time for a 27-20 lead.

Long Beach Poly’s following possession ended with quarterback Darius Curry in shotgun formation and unable to grasp a high snap. Servite’s Brando MosQueda recovered the loose ball to secure the Friars’ victory.

“We’ve been getting doubted all year because we came off that 1-9 season,” Carr said. “But this game we really them what we are. We’re making a run for the championship and we want a ring.”

Servite lost to JSerra 49-0 in the final week of the regular season. The Friars bounced back to beat Valencia of Valencia 48-24 in a Division 2 first-round game. They trailed 20-14 at halftime against Poly.

“We turned a corner last week,” said Servite first-year coach Chris Reinert. “The way guys flew around, the way the they played, the way we tackled. And they came out here in the second half tonight, and that’s the way it’s supposed to look like.”

Carr finished with 100 rushing yards on 16 carries. Junior quarterback Leo Hannon rushed for 42 yards in the second half, including a couple of clutch first-down runs. Justin De La Rosa and Jaden Welch made interceptions for the Friars, and Tommy Cernius and De La Rosa contributed sacks.

Curry threw three touchdown passes in the first half. The first one was for 57 yards to Kamarie Smith for a 7-0 lead. Ethan Naudin tied it on a 2-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. Gutierrez scored on a 2-yard run for a 14-7 Servite lead in the first quarter.

Smith’s second touchdown catch on a 29-yard pass play followed. But the point-after kick attempt hit the right upright. What would turn out to be a crucial miss left Servite with a 14-13 lead. Curry’s third touchdown pass, 21 yards to Jordan Malau’ulu created the 20-14 halftime lead for the Jackrabbits who finished 10-2.

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​ Orange County Register 

OCVarsity football wrap-up: Stories, scores and photos from Friday’s CIF-SS quarterfinals

• November 11, 2023

Here are all of OCVarsity’s stories, scores and photos from the football playoff games played on Friday, Nov. 10.

FRIDAY’S GAMES

SCORES

High school football playoffs: All of Friday’s CIF-SS scores and schedule for the semifinals

PHOTOS

Photos: Exciting action from Friday’s high school football playoff games

GAME STORIES

Servite football tops Long Beach Poly in playoffs with thrilling finish in overtime

Serra football and Cincere Rhaney hold off Los Alamitos in Division 2 quarterfinals

St. John Bosco football tested by San Clemente before rolling into Division 1 semifinals

Sierra Canyon football beats Santa Margarita for first Division 1 playoff win

Centennial football routs Orange Lutheran

Mission Viejo football beats Oaks Christian with big plays from defense, special teams

Chaminade football holds off Villa Park to reach Division 3 semifinals

San Juan Hills football rallies past Citrus Valley

La Serna football takes control early, rolls to win over Trabuco Hills in CIF-SS quarterfinals

Simi Valley football stops Crean Lutheran to reach Division 6 semifinals

La Habra football comes up short on key drive, loses to Murrieta Mesa in quarterfinals

Newbury Park tops Foothill in football playoffs with 4 TDs by Shane Rosenthal in 4th quarter

THURSDAY’S GAME

Sonora football stopped by Vista del Lago’s tough defense in Division 9 quarterfinals

DID YOU SEE THIS?

CIF-SS girls tennis finals: Mater Dei falls to Westlake in ‘heartbreaker;’ Aliso Niguel wins D1 title

Boys basketball preview: Orange County preseason Top 10

Girls basketball preview: Orange County preseason Top 10

Girls soccer preview: Orange County preseason Top 10

Fall Signing Day 2023: List of Orange County athletes who are signing a National Letter of Intent

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​ Orange County Register 

Newbury Park tops Foothill in football playoffs with 4 TDs by Shane Rosenthal in 4th quarter

• November 11, 2023

PLACENTIA — Things were looking up for the Foothill football team after Aaron Mitchell’s 55-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter gave the Knights a 15-point advantage.

That was Newbury Park’s Shane Rosenthal’s cue to leave his mark on the game.

The junior wide receiver scored four fourth-quarter touchdowns, including a 93-yard kickoff return that gave the Panthers the lead for good in a 41-34 win over Foothill on Friday in the CIF-SS Division 5 quarterfinals at Valencia High.

“I never stopped believing that we were going to come back,” Newbury Park coach Joe Smigiel said. “As bad as we were playing, as bad as things were going, bottom line is, I knew we were going to make a run.”

Rosenthal and the team’s quarterback, sophomore Brady Smigiel, connected for three touchdowns in the decisive quarter. Rosenthal finished with 15 receptions for 216 yards.

The contest had four second-half lead changes.

“We felt good about everything we were doing,” Foothill coach Doug Case said. “We didn’t change our scheme, it was just one-on-one matchups that they won. They beat us over the top, they have a good quarterback and some good receivers.”

The 6-foot-4 Smigiel threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns.

Newbury Park (9-3) will host Thousand Oaks in the Division 5 semifinals Friday, Nov. 17.

Mitchell, who scored four touchdowns in last week’s first-round win over Aquinas, ran for 195 yards on 24 carries with three touchdowns.

Nicholas Miali passed for 242 yards and one touchdown, a 68-yarder to Nico Mancini. Miali also had three costly interceptions.

The Knights (7-5) had four turnovers total, arguably their biggest one came while holding a 28-26 advantage when they fumbled a kickoff return.

“We made some mistakes in the fourth quarter and it was probably the difference in the ball game,” Case said.

A few plays after the fumble on the kickoff, Rosenthal caught a 30-yard TD pass from Smigiel to give the Panthers a 33-28 lead.

Foothill answered with a 30-yard touchdown run by Mitchell gave the Knights a 34-33 lead after they failed to convert a 2-point conversion.

The Panthers turned to Rosenthal once again, and he took the kickoff 93 yards for a TD. Newbury Park was successful on its 2-point conversion, giving it a seven-point cushion, 41-34.

Newbury Park scored on its opening drive, which was capped by a 4-yard run by Jaxon McKinney and also got a 33-yard field goal by Bohdie Ing for a quick 10-0 lead.

Big plays got Foothill back in the game. Miali found Mancini for a 68-yard TD pass late in the second quarter and then Connor Pietras had a 58-yard Interception return that gave Foothill its first lead, 14-13 in the third.

Miali connected with Mancini for a 43-yard pass on a third-down play and then Mitchell scored on a 15-yard run to make it 21-13.

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​ Orange County Register 

Centennial football routs Orange Lutheran

• November 11, 2023

CORONA – Centennial jumped to a big lead early, stumbled as Orange Lutheran clawed back within eight points early in the second half, then erupted for four consecutive touchdowns to secure a 63-39 victory in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 football quarterfinals Friday night.

The Huskies improved to 9-2 and punched their ticket for a matchup against St. John Bosco in the semifinals. The Braves, ranked No. 3 in the nation by MaxPreps.com, defeated San Clemente 35-10 Friday.

For Orange Lutheran, Centennial was the big fish the Lancers almost reeled in, only to have their trophy catch snap the line and swim away as they hauled it over the transom.

For Centennial, the Lancers were prey to be toyed with before swallowing the meal whole.

Orange Lutheran trailed 35-20 at halftime but scored on the first possession of the third quarter to shave the Huskies’ lead to 35-27.

Then Centennial running back Cordell Hatcher II broke their hearts.

On the first play of the next series, Hatcher broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage, another one in the secondary, and then outran the Lancers’ defense for an 80-yard touchdown that stunned the Lancers’ sideline into silence.

Its confidence restored, Centennial scored on its next three possessions to remain undefeated against Orange Lutheran in six meetings.

Hatcher rushed for 187 yards and five touchdowns on 15 carries in three quarters of work.

“It hurts, you know?” Lancers coach Rod Sherman said. “It seems like you’re getting close and then, all of a sudden, they pop one. They’re athletic, they create so many big plays. But that’s why they’re ranked in the top 20 in the nation.”

Orange Lutheran finishes the season with a 5-6 record.

Lancers quarterback T.J. Lateef threw for 335 yards and three touchdowns on 25-of-40 passing. He was intercepted once, by Tayten Beyer, whose 26-yard return in the second quarter set up a 14-yard touchdown pass from Husan Longstreet to Noah Westbrook that pushed Centennial’s lead to 28-7 with 6:38 to play in the half.

Longstreet’s quick passes and timely, accurate deep throws kept Orange Lutheran on its heels. Longstreet completed 19 of 22 passes for 327 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Cory Butler Jr. caught six passes for 114 yards, including a 39-yard snag and sprint for a score. Tavian McNair caught five passes for 110 yards and a touchdown.

Despite gaining 555 yards on offense, Centennial coach Matt Logan knows there is much room for improvement before taking on St. John Bosco, ranked No. 1 in California by CalPreps.com.

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“We’re still a work in progress, like everyone else is, too. We’re definitely not the finished product,” Logan said. “For a good four to five weeks we were playing high-level ball, and then I thought Week 10 we were OK, going into the bye week, and I don’t like the bye week. You don’t get to quite the level I think you want to be at.

“I think we responded well tonight,” Logan said. “When things weren’t going well and we scored a touchdown and then we got a stop, and we were able to get some separation at that point.”

Centennial bolted to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter on touchdown runs of 26, 2 and 17 yards by Hatcher and led 28-7 before Orange Lutheran started to find its stride. The Lancers scored on their next two possessions, on a 1-yard run by Steve Chavez and a 10-yard strike from Lateef to Chris Flores Jr., to cut Centennial’s lead to 28-20 with 28 seconds left in the half.

That was plenty of time for Centennial. Longstreet hit McNair with a 46-yard pass, then again on the next play for a 13-yard touchdown for a 35-20 lead at the break.

​ Orange County Register 

La Habra football comes up short on key drive, loses to Murrieta Mesa in quarterfinals

• November 11, 2023

LA HABRA – The fog from La Habra’s entrance to the field moments before the opening kickoff lingered over the field for a few minutes Friday. But the Highlanders never seemed to get completely out of the fog in a 28-14 loss to Murrieta Mesa in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 6 playoffs.

Kenneth Saucedo threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns for the Highlanders (7-5), but La Habra could never generate a ground game, finishing with 69 yards.

“I think from the get-go we were out of sorts on offense,” La Habra coach Frank Mazzotta said. “I don’t think we ever got comfortable on offense.”

The Highlanders’ first possession ended with a punt from their 3-yard line. Their first score, which tied the game 7-7 in the secondquarter, came on a busted play.

Saucedo, who was sacked twice, was flushed from the pocket, avoided the pressure and was able to find Daniel Gleason in the end zone without a defender within 10 yards of him, and hit him for a 38-yard touchdown.

“It was a scramble,” Mazzotta said. “The defense sometimes loses a guy, and he did his job and stayed deep.”

The Rams (6-6) answered back by driving 60 yards in nine plays. A 20-yard completion from Julian Silva to Royal Randolph on fourth-and-3 set up a 10-yard scoring run by Derrick Hart with 6:13 left.

Saucedo engineered a response, as a 39-yard completion to Bryce Whitley keyed a 75-yard drive that ended with a 20-yard scoring pass to Sanaa Aguirre.

C.J. Moran, who ran for 94 yards for Murrieta Mesa, put the Rams back on top with his second rushing touchdown, a 2-yard run late in the third quarter.

Saucedo tried once again to rise to the occasion. His 28-yard completion to Aguirre gave the Highlanders first-and-goal at the 7 to start the fourth quarter with Mesa leading 21-14.

An incompletion and a net of minus-3 yards on two runs left La Habra with fourth-and-goal at the 10. Saucedo managed to thread a bullet to Whitley at the goal line, but it was ruled that the ball never crossed the goal line even though his feet were in the end zone when he was stopped inside the 1-yard line.

4 and goal and the call was short by the ref. Mesa leads 21-14 in the 4th. @fjuhsd @SGVNSports @LHHighlanders @LaHabraHS @LHHSAthletics1 @LAHABRA_ASB @OCSportsZone @ocvarsity @ocvarsityguy @SteveFryer @James_Escarcega pic.twitter.com/BoFAzpRj8m

— Steve Garcia (@PrincipalSteveG) November 11, 2023

The vociferous Highlanders were given two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties after their reaction to the ruling. La Habra had 13penalties for 130 yards.

“We just made too many mistakes to win a football game,” Mazzotta said.

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​ Orange County Register 

San Juan Hills football rallies past Citrus Valley

• November 11, 2023

REDLANDS — San Juan Hills started the fourth quarter of Friday night’s CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoff game trailing 35-14 on the road against Citrus Valley. Coach Rob Firth told his team they had a great opportunity to write a script.

What the Stallions created overcame adversity to have a happy ending, scoring 24 points in the fourth quarter with Timmy Herr’s 2-yard touchdown run with 21.7 seconds left and giving San Juan Hills a 42-35 victory over Citrus Valley of Redlands.

San Juan Hills scores to take the 42-35 lead over Citrus Valley with 21.7 seconds left in the 4Q. PAT good. pic.twitter.com/XitTwzw9IW

— James H. Williams covers UCLA football (@JHWreporter) November 11, 2023

San Juan Hills won their third consecutive game to improve their record to 11-1. The Stallions will play the winner of the St. Bonaventure-Cajon quarterfinal game next weekend. Citrus Valley, winner of the Citrus Belt League title, finished with an 8-4 record.

“I told them “you gotta believe’ at halftime,” Firth said. He related the story of Marcus Lutrell, who was the inspiration for the movie “Lone Survivor”. “If Marcus Lutrell could crawl seven miles on his hands and forearms to freedom, we can play hard for 48 minutes.”

Citrus Valley took a 35-14 lead with 4:15 remaining in the third quarter when Dawson Martinez connected on a 27-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Bowens. Martinez was effective as a passer and a runner.

Dawson Martinez finds Jayden Bowens for the touchdown. PAT good.

Citrus Valley has all the momentum.

CV leads San Juan Hills 35-14 with 40.5 left in the third quarter. pic.twitter.com/XJmS8GJQcO

— James H. Williams covers UCLA football (@JHWreporter) November 11, 2023

San Juan Hills benefitted from a 15-yard penalty against Citrus Valley, and started their drive from the 50-yard line. Herr completed three passes and ran for a 12-yard gain to move the ball to the Citrus Valley 4. Jaydn Robinson caught two of Herr’s passes, the final one for a 4-yard touchdown reception on the first play of the fourth quarter. Citrus Valley 35, San Juan Hills 21.

The Stallions recovered a fumble at their own 29. Herr completed three straight passes to move the ball to the 4-yard line. The sophomore quarterback ran for a 2-yard touchdown on fourth down. With 5:47 remaining, San Juan Hills cut the Citrus Valley lead to 35-28.

Citrus Valley was forced to punt, and San Juan Hills benefitted from a Cajon pass interference penalty. Herr completed a 30-yard pass to Colton Chase at the Citrus Valley 15. Robinson caught a 6-yard pass, and Herr tied the score at 35 with a 4-yard touchdown run with 2:22 remaining in regulation.

Herr completed 31-of-44 passes for 313 yards, Was his arm tired?

“Every part of me is tired,” he said.

Firth said usually San Juan Hills would run the ball 60 percent of the time, but said Citrus Hills had a very good defense against the run.

Bruich said he apologized to his team after the game.

“When you lose, it’s always the coach’s fault,” Bruich said. After being asked to review the entire season, he said it was Citrus Valley’s first-ever Citrus Belt League championship. “They can’t take that away from us.”

San Juan Hills linebacker Weston Port (2025) talks about the victory over Citrus Valley.@PortWeston is considering UCLA, Michigan, BYU, North Carolina and Oklahoma. pic.twitter.com/LJ3ovxaHDt

— James H. Williams covers UCLA football (@JHWreporter) November 11, 2023

​ Orange County Register 

Simi Valley football stops Crean Lutheran to reach Division 6 semifinals

• November 11, 2023

SIMI VALLEY – Simi Valley football defeated Crean Lutheran 27-7 Friday night to advance to the CIF Southern Section Division 6 semifinals. The win for Simi Valley marks the 300th win for Simi Valley head coach Jim Benkert. With the win, Benkert becomes the 14th head coach in California state history reach the milestone, according to CalHiSports.com.

“I’m just so proud of the way the kids played,” Benkert said. “I think we really came out from the beginning and took the game to them and our defense played lights out all night.”

The Simi Valley defense was tough all night, holding Crean Lutheran to under 150 total yards and not allowing any offensive touchdowns. Simi Valley’s defense was also forced two fumbles and grabbed an interception in the game. The only Saints score of the night came on a punt return for a touchdown by Ben Byzewski at the end of the first half.

Safety Jayden Graham was all over the field for Simi Valley, forcing and recovering a fumble in the first half and also grabbing an interception in the second half.

“It feels great to step up, and not let them score on offense,” Graham said. “Our defense tends to build off each other and we love to make big hits.”

The Simi Valley defense focused on stopping the run with Crean Lutheran running back Justin Dominguez having 977 rushing yards and averaging 6.8 yards a carry heading into this game. The Pioneer defense did a nice job containing Dominguez, holding him to 25 rushing yards on nine carries.

Simi Valley jumped out to a 20-7 lead through two quarters with the defense and special teams being directly involved in each score. Both Pioneer offensive scores in the first half were set up in good field position by the Graham fumble recovery and then a fumble recovery from Seth Knight in the second quarter.

Simi Valley’s first score of the night came on the drive following the Graham fumble recovery when Jesse Sereno found Drayden Rittersdorf on a 10-yard touchdown pass. Simi Valley took a 14-point lead after Carlos Ferreiro blocked a Saints punt and Jayden Clarke picked it up and returned it 18 yards for the scoop and score.

Jack Reed hit a 23-yard field goal after Knight’s fumble recovery set Simi Valley up at the Saint 11-yard line to give Simi Valley a 17-7 lead heading into halftime.

Simi Valley’s defensive dominance continued in the second half with Graham starting the second half with an interception on Crean Lutheran’s first possession that set up Simi Valley near midfield. Jack Reed took advantage and hit a 40-yard field goal to extend the Simi Valley lead to 20-7.

The final Simi Valley score came on a blocked field goal by Ferreiro that he returned for a touchdown to make the score 27-7 in the third quarter.

“I’m just proud of our team, and it was a team game with everyone doing what they needed to do.” Ferreiro said.

Crean Lutheran struggled to get anything going in the passing game. In the third quarter, Crean Lutheran freshman quarterback Caden Jones was replaced by Jeremiah Finaly, but neither quarterback could get much of anything going with Simi Valley recording six sacks and bringing constant pressure.

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“Hats off to Simi Valley. Coach Benkert and his staff did a great job,” Crean Lutheran coach Rich Curtis said. “Their defense was quicker than we thought and they did a great job of stopping the run game.”

Sereno finished the game 16 of 22 for 161 yards and one touchdown pass. Simi Valley’s Brice Hawkins ran the ball 23 times for 78 yards.

Simi Valley will be at home next week to take on Huntington Beach in the semifinals.

​ Orange County Register 

High school football playoffs: Early scores from Friday’s CIF-SS quarterfinals

• November 11, 2023

An early look at the scores from the CIF-SS high school football games Friday, Nov. 10.

We will have a full list and updated playoff schedule at the end of the night.

CIF-SS Quarterfinals

DIVISION 1

St. John Bosco 35, San Clemente 10

Centennial 63, Orange Lutheran 39

Sierra Canyon 37, Santa Margarita 20

Mater Dei 38, JSerra 0

DIVISION 2

Murrieta Valley 53, Rancho Cucamonga 52 (2OT)

Mission Viejo 39, Oaks Christian 14

Serra 38, Los Alamitos 28

Servite 27, Long Beach Poly 20

DIVISION 3

San Juan Hills 42, Citrus Valley 35

Oak Hills vs. Warren

Chaminade 30, Villa Park 16

DIVISION 4

Yorba Linda 17, Loyola 10

Corona del Mar 24, Santa Barbara 21

Capistrano Valley vs. Culver City

La Serna 50, Trabuco Hills 14

DIVISION 5

Newbury Park 41, Foothill 34

Thousand Oaks 19, Bonita 13

Western 49, Apple Valley 19

DIVISION 6

Huntington Beach 36, Ontario Christian 33

Simi Valley 27, Crean Lutheran 7

Murrieta Mesa 28, La Habra 14

Mira Costa 45, Cypress 27

DIVISION 7

Mayfair 45, Chino 21

Muir 14, Agoura 7

El Dorado 16, Redondo 0

DIVISION 8

Charter Oak 23, Covina 7

St. Anthony vs. St. Pius X-St. Matthias

Aliso Niguel vs. Jurupa Hills

DIVISION 9

Rio Hondo Prep 22, Orange 13

Santa Monica vs. Troy

DIVISION 10

Torrance 21, Redlands 14

West Covina vs. Beckman

Xavier Prep 10, Kennedy 7

DIVISION 11

Cantwell-Sacred Heart vs. Westminster

DIVISION 12

Cerritos vs. Western Christian

Santa Fe 32, Arrowhead Christian 14

Yucca Valley 35, Buena Park 0

DIVISION 13

Walnut 31, Los Amigos 17

Desert Hot Springs vs. Baldwin Park

DIVISION 14

Artesia 21, Santa Rosa Academy 12

Bell Gardens 28, Ocean View 21

Hawthorne 44, El Monte 37

Lynwood 42, Whittier Christian 20

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​ Orange County Register