four-yard touchdown pass

A rare November storm dumped continuous gallons of rain on players and fans Friday night across Southern California, creating opportunities for underdogs in the quarterfinals of the high school football playoffs.

No one was better prepared for rain than Santa Margarita quarterback Trace Johnson, who played last season in Florida. “Every other game was rain,” he said.

Johnson fired touchdown passes of 33 and 34 yards to sophomore Ryan Clark to help No. 5-seeded Santa Margarita (8-3) hand No. 4-seeded Sierra Canyon (10-1) its first defeat, 21-9, to advance to the Southern Section Division 1 semifinals.

The big stunner of the night was No. 8-seeded Orange Lutheran eliminating No. 1-seeded St. John Bosco 20-19 when the Braves missed an extra point in the final two minutes. Orange Lutheran (3-8) lost to St. John Bosco 48-0 in the regular season. The big play was sophomore King Rich Johnson returning an interception for a touchdown and a 20-13 lead. The Lancers will host Santa Margarita next week at Orange Coast College.

“To go from losing 48-0 to beating a team in the playoffs speaks to their character and continued growth,” Orange Lutheran coach Rod Sherman said. “Our goal is to play our best football at the end of the year. We don’t make excuses with our young team. We played our best football game of the year. I’m super proud of our guys. They got over the mental block that they can play with anyone in the country.”

The other semifinal will have Mater Dei at Corona Centennial. Centennial defeated Servite 41-6. Mater Dei defeated Mission Viejo 20-0.

Sierra Canyon had never trailed this season, led by a defense considered the best in the region. But Johnson stunned the Trailblazers with his touchdown pass to Clark at the end of the first half for a 7-3 halftime lead. Sierra Canyon scored on its opening possession of the second half to go on top 9-7, but after that, it was Santa Margarita’s defense displaying its dominating form.

Isaia Vandermade sacked Sierra Canyon quarterback Laird Fink twice in the second half. He also batted down a pass attempt. Fink was limited to 92 yards passing. The Eagles had three second-half sacks, with leading tackler Leki Holani making tackle after tackle.

Santa Margarita entered the Division 1 playoffs under first-year coach Carson Palmer having played six of the seven teams in one of the toughest regular-season schedules. Palmer singled out Clark, who’s also the Eagles’ punter.

“He was unbelievable,” Palmer said. “He made plays all night.”

Said Clark: “They were great throws. We practiced good all week.”

Sierra Canyon quarterback Laird Fink throws in the rain.

(Craig Weston)

Sierra Canyon’s Jaxsen Stokes rushed for 106 yards, but lost opportunities in the first half proved costly. The Trailblazers tried three field goals. Carter Sobel made a 34-yard field goal, but he had one blocked and missed from 42 yards. Fink had a pass intercepted in the end zone by Joshua Holani in another huge play for the Eagles.

With seven commits to USC playing on the drenched Sierra Canyon all-weather field and USC Heisman Trophy winner Palmer coaching Santa Margarita, it would have been a perfect time to hire Traveler to take a gallop around the field or borrow the Trojan band to play “Tusk.”

Palmer has certainly made an impact in his first s†int as a high school coach.

“It’s been real fun and it’s still going,” he said.

For its Southern Section Division 3 football playoff opener on Friday night against Laguna Beach, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame brought in a “ringer” assistant coach this week to get its running backs a little tougher.

Former UCLA coach DeShaun Foster dropped by to offer lessons, particularly to his sophomore stepson, Noel Washington.

“He helped a lot,” Washington said. “Having him here means a lot. He’s been making us practice a lot harder.”

And what was the impact? Washington had touchdown runs of 35, two and 32 yards to help Notre Dame (6-5) come away with a 44-28 victory and advance to a home game next week against Chino Hills. He finished with 83 yards in 11 carries.

Safety Tahj Skinner of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame is happy after getting his sixth interception of the season.

(Craig Weston)

Junior quarterback Jack Hurst of Laguna Beach and West Virginia-bound senior quarterback Wyatt Brown of Notre Dame kept making plays all night. Hurst completed 32 of 51 passes for 417 yards and four touchdowns. Brown completed 16 of 31 passes for 232 yards and one touchdown. He ran for 61 yards and one touchdown.

The most important completion for Brown came with 7:38 left on third and 17 with Notre Dame clinging to a 34-28 lead. He found sophomore Emmanuel Pullins for a 19-yard completion. Then Pullins made a 31-yard catch. It set up a 21-yard field goal by Nico Marliani for a 37-28 lead with 2:22 left.

“Huge,” Notre Dame coach Evan Yabu said of the third-down reception.

“I just saw him one on one with no safety coverage,” Brown said.

Said Pullins: “I’m ready for those situations. Before the game, I promised myself to go for the ball.”

It became a wild game in the second half because Laguna Beach (9-2) refused to go down without a fight. After Andre Gamboa picked up a fumble on a high Laguna Beach snap to score a touchdown to start the third quarter, Notre Dame looked ready to pull away with a 28-14 lead.

Hurst responded with a four-yard touchdown pass to Grant Regal. Brown ran 10 yards for a touchdown and a 34-21 Notre Dame lead. Back came Hurst, who fired a 40-yard touchdown pass to Otis Boultinghouse.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Brown said. “They throw a punch, we throw a punch back.”

In defeat, Laguna Beach made clear it will be a team to reckon with next season. Two freshmen, lineman Luke Bogdan and running back Charlie Christian, kept making plays like they will be future stars. The receiving corp made up mostly of juniors kept making catches for Hurst, who finished the season with 45 touchdown passes. The Breakers were hurt by two fumbles and an interception.

“It was a fun game,” Washington said. “They are tough and play hard.”

A mistake by Brown late in the first half helped Laguna Beach get back into the game. Brown had a pass intercepted by Will Kimball with 1:01 left on a scramble with Notre Dame leading 21-7. Hurst drove the team down to score on a four-yard touchdown reception by Kimball with four seconds left to make it 21-14 at halftime.

Two touchdown runs by Washington and a 25-yard touchdown reception by Luc Weaver accounted for the Knights’ first-half scores.

Tahj Skinner of Notre Dame picked up his sixth interception of the season. Notre Dame lost its standout nose tackle, Chris Colon, for next week’s game after being ejected for two 15-yard personal foul penalties.