PHOTOS: Loara tops Rialto 14-12 to capture CIF Division 14 crown

Loara players pose with the CIF championship trophy Friday night. (Photos courtesy Jim McCormack, For OC Sports Zone).

Loara had a plan for its CIF Division 14 football championship game Friday night with high-scoring Rialto.

And the plan worked … for a while. The Saxons took an early lead and then held on to topple the Knights 14-12 in a tense, entertaining contest at Glover Field in Anaheim to capture their first CIF title since 1979.

Plan A, first-year Coach Lance Neal said, was to use the Saxon offense to keep the Rialto offense off the field and that plan worked perfectly when the Saxons used more than eight minutes on their first scoring drive, taking a 7-0 lead with 1:19 remaining in the first quarter when quarterback Andre Sanchez threw the first of his two touchdown passes, a 16-yarder to Cesar Vasquez.

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Isaac Malaga had a key run on that march, juggling the snap on a punt attempt, controlling the ball and running 13 yards for a first down.

Loara’s second score took almost no time, Sanchez throwing a 36-yard strike to Jeremiah Adly 13 seconds into the second quarter and the Saxons had an encouraging 14-0 lead. Ignacio Madina provided the winning margin by kicking both extra points.

It is said that everyone has a plan until something goes wrong and that was the case here when Rialto’s defense responded, stifling the Saxon attack for the rest of the evening.

With the offense struggling against a very quick Rialto defense, Neal went to Plan D, as in defense.

“They were averaging 50 points a game and we held them to six points in the first half,” Neal said. “Our defense was awesome.”

And it had to be.

Preparing for Rialto was the key. The Knights run a hybrid Single Wing offense that has overpowered opponents in the playoffs.

Even though they have completed only 11 passes all season, the Knights averaged 49.3 points per game and in quarterfinal and semifinal wins had rushed for 863 yards and 11 touchdowns, led by Fowler who had gained 631 yards on 34 carries, averaging nearly 19 yards a carry and scoring five times.

Friday night Fowler gained 148 yards and scored both Rialto touchdowns put he paid a dear price, being pounded by a relentless Saxon defense.

Aided by three major penalties, Rialto got on the board 28 seconds before halftime on a 7-yard run by Fowler. A run on the two-point conversion attempt was swamped and Loara led, 14-6 at the break.

Fowler scored again on a 1-yard run at 7:56 of the fourth quarter and again the Saxon defense rallied to stop the two-point conversion attempt.

That set the stage for generous portions of late-game dramatics. Each team had the ball twice more and each time the defenses responded.

Rialto got its last chance at victory when the Saxons went for first down on 4^th-and-2 at the Loara 46 with 3:18 to play. The Knights stopped Malaga short of the first down and took over at the 46.

There was 38 seconds remaining and Rialto was at the 39 when Malaga, who had done everything for the Saxons, intercepted a pass and ran it back to his 36. Moments later the game was over.

Loara’s last appearance in the CIF finals was in 1979. Loara defeated Canyon 28-23 in the Southern Division finals at Anaheim Stadium.

—Courtesy Jim McCormack, For OC Sports Zone