Mary

Nicholas Fonseca snared a tipped ball in the end zone for a 39-yard touchdown on an untimed down as South Gate pulled out a miraculous 63-58 victory over Marquez in the City Section Division I final Saturday at Southwest College.

Marquez had taken a 58-57 lead on a one-yard sneak by Angelo Gutierrez and his subsequent two-point conversion pass to Elyjah Staples with six seconds left. After a fair catch, South Gate took over at its 46 and when Anthony Ford intercepted a pass the Gladiators began celebrating, thinking they had won. However, a pass interference penalty advanced the ball to the Marquez 39 and gave the Rams one last gasp with zeros on the clock.

Quarterback Michael Gonzalez rolled to his right to buy time and launched a pass into a maze of players in the end zone. The jump ball was tipped by two defenders into the waiting arms of Fonseca, who calmly grabbed it out of midair — shocking even his own teammates.

“I said to myself I’m not going to go up for the ball, I’m not that tall. … I’m gonna wait for it to come down and that’s what happened,” said Fonseca, who had 10 catches for 152 and two touchdowns and also scored on a six-yard run.

“I seen it coming, I saw them hit it down but it went right into my hands and I caught it. This is one of the most special moments of my life!”

Gonzalez completed 26 of 34 passes for 450 yards and six touchdowns. Ephaunie Lewis had 10 receptions for 193 yards and three scores — the last a three-yard lob from Gonzalez with 52 seconds left, immediately followed by Fonseca’s two-point run to put South Gate up 57-50.

Marquez tailback Gilberto Cisneros drags Rams defender Jordan Olivares to the goal line in the second quarter Saturday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Nicholas Quintanilla returned the second-half kickoff 85 yards for a score that pulled the second-seeded Rams (11-3) even and his 39-yard touchdown catch gave South Gate its first lead, 35-28, late in the third quarter. He finished with five catches for 90 yards and rushed five times for 54 yards.

The teams combined for six touchdowns in a wild fourth quarter.

Angelo Gutierrez-Molina threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns, Marcus Juan ran for 113 yards and one touchdown in 15 carries and caught four passes for 50 yards. He raced 68 yards on a hook and lateral to give the fifth-seeded Gladiators (11-3) a 50-49 lead with 1:57 left.

Gilberto Cisneros added 84 yards and three touchdowns in 22 carries and Staples had four catches for 129 yards and one touchdown.

“Never give up!” coach Francisco Saldana shouted before raising the trophy

South Gate lost to Chatsworth 38-36 on a field goal with no time left in the Division II final last year — one of the most bizarre endings in City playoff history.

“On the last play my coach told me to run a corner route to the pylon,” Fonseca said. “Last year we were up late and it bit us. This time we came through and it feels great.”

South Gate captured its third City title and first since winning the 3A Division in 1988 under Gary Cordray.

Wiegman said she “can’t control” what Earps says or feels about her decisions but the England coach emphasised she made the decisions to give the side the best chance of success.

England take on China at Wembley Stadium on 29 November before hosting Ghana at St Mary’s Stadium on 2 December.

The media conference to announce her squad was dominated by questions about Earps and Wiegman joked it would be “nice to talk about football”.

The return of Manchester City forward Lauren Hemp and midfielder Grace Clinton are the headline stories in Wiegman’s 25-player squad for the friendly matches.

But former Netherlands coach Wiegman accepted that dealing with adversity is part of her high-profile role.

“Of course you hope that things are always positive but that’s not how things work in football when you’re so visible,” she said.

“It’s just the situation and you’re trying to deal with it in the best positive way, solve whatever needs to be solved, and move forward.

“I make decisions on what I think is the best for the team to compete in the next camp or the next tournament – and I make decisions to win.”

Wiegman was also asked if she was disappointed that Earps said her affinity to the Lionesses manager was “destroyed” and her “trust and respect was evaporating”.

“I don’t think I can change that. What I just try to be is as honest as possible and have a very good working relationship, which is what I think we had,” she added.

“I can’t control other things. I just stick with what I want to do, how I want to do it and try to be as clear and honest as possible to make decisions to win.

“I always keep conversations private. I share things here [in the media] but when I have individual conversations I keep that private as that builds trust.

“If I do that then players will come to me and have conversations with me. That’s my approach. We create an environment where we want people to be themselves.”

Chelsea goalkeeper Hampton is not in the squad for the final two England matches of the year after picking up a thigh injury.

The 24-year-old won the Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper at this year’s Ballon d’Or awards, and was one of the standout performers at Euro 2025.

Wiegman confirmed she had spoken with Hampton following Earps’ book release but did not go into details on their conversations.

“I spoke to Hannah. I speak to players in between camps anyway. Unfortunately, she is injured now. But I did speak to her, yes,” added Wiegman.

“What the content of that conversation was, as always, I’ll keep private.”

While Middleton-Patel stole the show by the end of the night, it was Earps who was the focus before kick-off.

The mural of Earps, painted outside Old Trafford following her heroics with England at Euro 2022, bore a ‘Welcome to Manchester’ message which felt riddled with irony as she stepped out in the pouring northern rain in the opponent’s colours.

She was a heroine to many during her time at United and played a key role in the club’s first FA Cup victory, and their rise up the Women’s Super League table.

This time she was a football enemy, arriving in a cloud of controversy, and received boos when her name was read out by the stadium announcer.

More boos followed when she touched the ball, mixed in with some cheers from loyal followers, until she eventually received the adulation of the Old Trafford crowd when she walked along the stands applauding them at full-time, and was warmly received in return.

“A lot of the public has great interest in seeing Mary play. I’m very happy to have a player like her in our team,” said PSG boss Paulo Cesar afterwards.

“The fans here were clearly behind her. At the beginning, perhaps not, but by the end of the game her quality shone through.

“She put in a great performance today and she gives confidence to the team. I’m very happy with her.”

Skinner said in his pre-match media conference he expected the United fans to make life difficult for Earps as an opponent, but hoped she would receive the respect she earned during her five-year spell at the club before leaving in 2024.

When she left the pitch to cheers from the home fans and hugs from former team-mates, the controversy of the past two weeks surrounding her book felt a distant memory.

“It was nice. I said to her at the end to look after herself. Mary is a really intelligent woman and she has been the world’s best so she understands it,” said Skinner.

“It was a lovely atmosphere and she got a cheer when she walked down at the end of the game, and hopefully that helps her in the situation and how she feels.

“After the game it was always going to be friendly with Mary, because she was a big part of what we have done – and we should never forget that.”