Trevor Pembroke makes a big gain for Calvary Chapel against Santa Ana Valley Friday night to set up the go ahead touchdown. (Photos: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone)
Both Santa Ana Valley and Calvary Chapel entered Friday night’s first round CIF Division 13 football playoff game with identical 8-2 records and both were poised to advance.
To see the photos, please click on the first photo
Despite falling behind early and trailing by double-digits and losing their starting quarterback, the Eagles stormed back and scored a fourth quarter touchdown to defeat Santa Ana Valley 28-20 at Santa Ana Valley High Friday night.
Reserve Calvary Chapel quarterback Trevor Pembroke, who replaced starting quarterback Ian Capuano who injured his left ankle late in the first half, guided the only scoring drive of the second half to propel the Eagles (9-2) into the second round of the playoffs.
“I was a little nervous at first, but after the first few licks, I settled down,” said Pembroke, a senior. “It feels amazing to be going to the second round.”
Calvary Chapel will play top-seeded Alhambra Friday night in the quarterfinals in Alhambra.
“Throughout the season Trevor has been able to get enough reps and so when Ian went down we felt he was ready,” said Eagles Coach Pat McInally.
After a wild first-half that ended in a 20-20 tie, the defenses took command until Calvary Chapel broke through in the fourth quarter.
Midway through the final quarter, following a 20-yard punt return by William Koth, Pembroke led Calvary Chapel on a seven-play, 45-yard scoring drive. Jake Sukita had a couple of clutch runs on the drive that Pembroke capped off with a one-yard TD run. Pembroke then raced in with the 2-point conversion to give Calvary Chapel a 28-20 lead with 7:18 remaining.
The Falcons tried to rally but failed on their final two drives.
Eagles linebacker Jacob Scott dealt the Falcons a major setback when he sacked SAV quarterback Jimmy Vu late in the game.
“I went for him and I got him,” said Scott. “It’s been a long time since this school has gone the second round of the playoffs and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
Vu attempted to rally SAV late but his pass attempt on a fourth down play with 1:23 was intercepted near the goal line by Eagles corner back Sky Oliver.
The Eagles offensive line proved to be a key element in the game as Sukita rushed for 140 yards on 17 carries. He continually found openings in the middle of the field and took advantage of them.
“We left it all on the field, the whole team worked to get this victory,” said Sukita.
The Eagles, Orange Coast League’s No. 3 team, won their first six games of the season and had an amazing turn around this season after a 1-9 2018 campaign.
The Falcons (8-3), the No. 2 from the Orange League, committed six turnovers in last week’s lost to Katella and had their seven-game winning streak snapped and finished the season on a down note.
“We just didn’t play disciplined enough,” said Santa Ana Valley Coach Larry Mohr. “There are no excuses but we lost several key people to injures and were playing with second teamers. I think if we would have been healthy, this would have been a different result.”
After Juan Navarro returned the opening kickoff 47 yards, the Falcons marched 38 yards in six plays to get on the board. Junior running back Michael Vizcarra carried the ball six consecutive and capped the drive with a 2-yard TD run, giving Santa Ana Valley a 6-0 lead.
Vizcarra ran for 142 yards and scored two touchdowns.
On the ensuing Eagles possession, Navarro intercepted a Calvary Chapel pass and returned it 43 yards. The Falcons went right back on the attack as they drove 46 yards in six plays for their second score. Vizcarra scored on a 30-yard TD run and SAV upped its lead to 12-0 after only seven minutes into the game.
“After we went down 12-0, we made some big plays and got momentum,” said Koth.
However, the Eagles promptly countered with a 5-play drive that ended with Capuano executing a perfect fake into the line and racing around end 32 yards for a touchdown and cutting the lead to 12-7 late in the opening quarter.
The Falcons responded on its first possession of the second quarter as Vu completed a short pass to Raymond Casillas, who broke several tackles and outran the secondary enroute to a 65-yard TD and increasing SAV’s lead to 20-7.
But the Eagles battled back and scored two TDs over the final 10 minutes of the half. Capuano notched his second TD run of the game – 21 yards – and then tossed a 24-yard TD pass to Koth in the final seconds of the half to tie the game at 20-20 at the break.
Both team’s offense excelled in the first half. SAV racked up 225 yards of offense and Calvary Chapel compiled 223 yards.
Capuano injured his left ankle on the final drive of the first half and did not return. He rushed for 69 yards and also scored two TDs in the first half.
“We kept to our game plan, we practiced hard all week and we trusted each other,” said Capuano.
STATS
RUSHING: CC, Sukita 17-140, Capuano 8-69; SAV, Vizcarra 21-142
PASSING: CC, Capuano 8-13-1, 84 yards, TD, Pembroke 8-14-1, 77 yards; SAV, Vu, 6-13-123 yards, TD
RECEIVING: CC, Koth 5-67, Oliver 5-48, Price 5-38; SAV: Casillas 3-93, Vizcarra 1-13.
-Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone
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