Centennial

Somehow, someway, Los Alamitos is your Southern Section Division 2 football champion. A team of overachievers filled with a roster of best friends combined chemistry, determination and toughness to overcome all odds.

Saturday night before an overflow crowd at San Clemente High, the Griffins recorded seven sacks and took advantage of one of the strangest touchdowns scored by a lineman to beat the Tritons 33-20. This same Los Alamitos team lost to San Clemente 28-9 in a league game on Oct. 24.

“I’m not smart enough to articulate how I feel and how proud I am of these guys,” said Los Alamitos coach Ray Fenton, who was hugging one player after another.

Los Alamitos (12-2) received a sensational performance from quarterback Colin Creason, who completed his final 13 passes and combined with the Griffins’ strong running back tandem of Kamden Tillis and Lenny Ibarra to generate enough offensive firepower to end San Clemente’s five-game winning streak and deliver the Griffins their first championship since 2002.

The game changed on consecutive plays late in the third quarter after San Clemente took a 20-17 lead on a 35-yard field goal by Ethan Miller. Creason completed a shovel pass to tight end Beckham Hofland inside the five-yard line, but he fumble the ball. It went off the leg of a San Clemente defender and was picked up by offensive guard Luke Wehner, a rugby player who knew exactly what to do to score his first high school touchdown — run toward the goal line. He went seven yards for a 24-20 lead.

“I was so scared,” Hofland said.

Said Wehner: “I was not expecting that at all.”

Then Los Alamitos forced a San Clemente fumble on the next offensive play that was recovered by Hunter Eligon. Tillis scored a 22-yard touchdown for a 30-20 lead. The momentum and the game had switched to Los Alamitos.

Individuals kept stepping forward to deliver big moments for the Griffins. Jackson Renger had two of his team’s seven sacks. Hofland had a 24-yard touchdown catch and two field goals. Tillis rushed for 141 yards. The versatile Ibarra had an interception, a 65-yard punt and rushed for 99 yards. And Los Alamitos’ offensive line kept creating opportunities for Creason and the running backs.

The first half ended in a 17-17 deadlock when Hofland made a touchdown catch for Los Alamitos with 39 seconds left. San Clemente had opened a 17-3 lead behind Jaxson Rex, who had a 25-yard catch, forced a fumble and made an interception. Colin Granite scored two touchdowns on short runs.

Los Alamitos’ no-huddle, up-tempo offense started to cause problems for San Clemente’s defense. Tillis had 100 yards rushing at halftime while Creason had 156 yards passing.

Los Alamitos won the Southern Section Division 2 championship with a 33-20 win over San Clemente.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Los Alamitos started the season 8-0, then lost to San Clemente and Mission Viejo in consecutive Alpha League games. The Griffins regrouped and never stopped believing in themselves. They are expected to face San Diego Section champion Cathedral Catholic in a state playoff game next weekend.

In the video game world, conquering the “cheat code” means a player has figured out the secret password to stay alive.

In the high school football world, Matt Logan, the coach at Corona Centennial, is the only public school coach in California to have figured out how to beat private schools in the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.

His teams won back-to-back championships in 2014 and 2015, then couldn’t crack the playoff code of beating St. John Bosco or Mater Dei for the next eight seasons.

Then came Friday night, when before some 4,000 fans, Centennial defeated Mater Dei 28-27 in the Division 1 semifinals to advance to a championship game Friday against Santa Margarita at the Rose Bowl. Going through the private-school gaunlet of the Trinity League is not easy but the Huskies fear no one.

How was the “cheat code” solved?

The truth is St. John Bosco and Mater Dei gathered so much talent on the offensive and defensive lines and so much depth that beating them in the postseason in recent years became unlikely.

This season, finally there were cracks in the armor.

“They’re not what they were,” assistant coach Anthony Catalano said. “They have weaknesses.”

Mater Dei had no elite running back like Jordon Davison; the offensive line couldn’t overcome its lack of experience and too many 15-yard penalties proved costly. St. John Bosco’s inexperience at quarterback and the absence of an elite running back also were exposed. Both teams had as good as a receiving corp as there is in the nation, but this season showed you have to be able to run the ball successfully in the fourth quarter.

This is the first time Mater Dei became a three-loss team since 2015. This is the first time Mater Dei or St. John Bosco have not played in a final since 2012 when Long Beach Poly won the title.

There’s still one more private school for Centennial to conquer, Santa Margarita, in Friday’s championship game. The two teams met Aug. 28 with Santa Margarita winning in overtime 33-27 when Logan missed the game because of a health scare.

Santa Margarita’s defense must be pierced for Centennial to win. The Eagles’ defensive line, linebackers and secondary are loaded with talent. Carson Palmer’s coaching staff, filled with former NFL players like himself, have shown they can teach, lead and handle X’s and O’s. They’ve also figured out the code to make it through the toughest schedule in Southern California.

It will be a great championship weekend for the Southern Section and City Section.

What a story for the return of Crenshaw (10-1) to the City Open Division final on Saturday against 11-time champion Carson at L.A. Southwest College. Interim coach Terrence Whitehead and his players are motivated to win for coach Robert Garrett, who has been on administrative leave all season. And what a season it has been for Carson junior quarterback Chris Fields III.

In Southern Section Division 2, surging San Clemente will host Los Alamitos in a rematch of their Alpha League game won by the Tritons. Sophomore quarterback Preston Beck has made tremendous progress in the last five weeks for San Clemente. It’s a rare game of home-grown players representing their communities absent of transfer students.

In Division 3, it’s the battle of top junior quarterbacks featuring Taylor Lee of unbeaten Oxnard Pacifica and Palos Verdes with Ryan Rakowski, who delivered a stitle title last season.

In Division 5, Rio Hondo Prep is 13-0 and going for a third consecutive title against Redondo Union, which is making its first championship appearance sine 1944. In Division 13, Montebello has reached its first final since 1935 and will play for its first championship against Woodbridge.

The competitive equity playoff system is creating championship opportunities for teams with little championship history. That’s a positive for fans bored of seeing the same teams every season in the finals.

Coach Matt Logan stood on the sideline with nine seconds left and his Corona Centennial team leading Mater Dei 28-27. He had called a timeout trying to ice Mater Dei kicker Jerry Shifman, who would be attempting a 46-yard field goal to decide the Southern Section Division 1 semifinal playoff game Friday night in Corona.

“I was just hoping he would miss,” Logan said.

Centennial defensive lineman Miles Schirmer broke through to block the field-goal attempt and send Centennial to face Santa Margarita in next Friday’s championship game at the Rose Bowl.

“It was unreal emotion and I’m so happy for these kids,” Logan said. “They play their butts off.”

Said Schirmer: “I reached up and it hit my forearm. I just pulled all my strength on a bull rush and jumped as high as I could.”

After Centennial quarterback Dominick Catalano took a knee to run out the clock, the sold-out crowd went wild with noise and excitement as Centennial players celebrated on the field.

“We got it done,” Logan said.

It was 10 years ago that Catalano’s brother, Anthony, now the team’s offensive coordinator, led Centennial to a Division 1 championship. Now little brother will have his moment in the spotlight after a courageous performance that saw him endure a powerful Mater Dei pass rush to throw for 290 yards and run for two touchdowns.

It was his 24-yard touchdown pass to Keawe Browne with 1:35 left that provided the winning score.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” Catalano said.

Keawe Browne of Corona Centennial makes game-winning 24-yard touchdown catch to take down Mater Dei.

(Craig Weston)

Said Browne: “I saw the ball go up and I had to get it.”

There were so many big plays for Centennial (11-1), none more than a group sack before the field-goal attempt that pushed Mater Dei from the 17-yard-line to the 29.

Jonathan McKinley, who’s brother Javon also played on Centennial’s last championship team 10 years ago, was part of five players that surrounded and took down Mater Dei quarterback Ryan Hopkins.

“Oh my gosh, it feels amazing,” McKinley said.

Browne and receiver Ty Plinski kept making catch after catch. Plinski’s one-handed catch, something he has become known for, was another instant classic.

“He’s unreal,” Logan said of Plinski, who had four catches for 98 yards.

Mater Dei opened a 10-0 lead after the first quarter. Hopkins was six-for-six passing for 57 yards. But Centennial took a 14-10 halftime lead. Four-yard touchdown runs by Malaki Davis and Catalano gave the Huskies momentum.

In the third quarter, Mater Dei (8-3) regained the lead 16-14 on a 43-yard touchdown catch by Kayden Dixon-Wyatt. Back came the Huskies and Catalano, who had a two-yard touchdown run for a 21-16 lead. Mater Dei settled for a 23-yard field goal by Shifman, then took a 27-21 lead when Shaun Scott recovered a fumble, returned it to the seven and Chris Henry Jr. caught a seven-yard touchdown pass.

Centennial made adjustments. It was expected to try to run the ball, but with Mater Dei’s secondary missing several players because of injuries, Logan turned to his passing attack. And when the Huskies needed to run the ball on their final drive, Zander Lewis came through with two important runs.

The time loop has been broken. Eight years of ending the high school football season in Southern California with either Mater Dei or St. John Bosco as the No. 1 team is over. No more Groundhog Day. Welcome to a fresh start.

It was the second time this season that Centennial had beaten Mater Dei. Centennial taking on Santa Margarita should be a crowd-pleasing final. Carson Palmer, the first-year coach of Santa Margarita, taking on Logan, who passed the 300-win mark this season. Santa Margarita’s defense has been extraordinary. Santa Margarita beat Centennial earlier this season 33-27 in overtime in a game Logan missed because of a heath scare.

“I’ll be there this time,” said Logan, who was eating healthy watermelons before the game but wearing his usual short pants during the game on a night to remember.

There are few high school football players in Southern California who have made a greater impact for their team than junior Jaden Walk-Green of Corona Centennial.

Playing strong safety, he has eight interceptions, with four returned for touchdowns. He returned a fumble for a touchdown. He’s also the kicker, punter and return man for kickoffs and punts. He has returned one punt for a touchdown. He can play receiver, running back and quarterback if needed. He’s also the starting center fielder for the baseball team.

Growing up, he played ice hockey, lacrosse, basketball, soccer, golf, football and baseball, plus he can ski.

“Why not?” he said. “Try everything. It’s good to get away from your main sport.”

He has so much sports equipment and so many shoes in his closet from all the sports he’s tried that he could put on a garage sale.

Centennial coach Matt Logan was nice enough to show World Series games on the school’s videoboard during football practices so Walk-Green could keep track of the Dodgers.

“You intentionally walk Shohei Ohtani four times in one game. That’s respect,” he said.

After finishing his regular-season finale football game against Chaparral, he was up Saturday morning to play in a fall baseball game and went two for three. He’s improved his speed and strength, so look for more steals as Centennial’s leadoff man this spring.

He’s 5 feet 11, 185 pounds and got to face first-round draft pick Seth Hernandez of Corona last season. The thing is Hernandez refused to show him his 101-mph fastball.

“He went curve and slider,” Walk-Green said of his first at-bat. “The next at-bat, he hit me. They knew not to throw me a fastball.”

Walk-Green’s focus on versatility can be traced to his father, Keith, who played two sports at St. Monica and wanted his son to enjoy many sports while not specializing until he learned what he was best at. His mother, Dorshay, was a dancer at St. Monica and also endorsed the multiple-sports experiment.

Now that Walk-Green has become so good in football and baseball, he’s going to have many options for college. He’s only 17 and enjoying his life as someone who can play any position and any sport. You want to play pingpong, ask him. You want to see him skate on ice or blacktop, ask him.

Corona Centennial opens the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs on Friday as the No. 2 seed, hosting No. 7 Servite. The Huskies are the last team other than Mater Dei or St. John Bosco to win a Division 1 title in 2015.

“We have a good team to make a run,” Walk-Green said.

Logan trusts Walk-Green, putting him in the middle of the field on defense so he can observe and use his instincts to intervene, just like he does as a center fielder for the baseball team.

“He can play any position on offense,” Logan said.

Well, except on the offensive line, but don’t think he couldn’t adapt.

“Never fear anything,” Walk-Green said.