Beckman players and coaches pose with the CIF Regional 4-A South plaque after Saturday’s win over Hillcrest. (PHOTOS: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).
Beckman’s football team could have folded several times Saturday night in the CIF South Division 4-A final against Hillcrest of Riverside at Tustin High School.
Like when the Patriots fell behind 13-0 early in the game. Or when they took a late lead in the third quarter, then quickly lost it when Hillcrest responded with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
But Beckman responded time and time again and rallied for a wild 46-40 victory over Hillcrest in front of a large crowd. Beckman, which clinched the CIF Southern Section Division 8 title last week, won the South crown and moves on to the state final next weekend vs. El Cerrito (12-2) Saturday at 7 p.m. at Buena Park.
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Beckman (12-3) has won 11 in a row. It was the first time that Beckman has played in a CIF State Bowl Game.
“I’m really, really happy we have such a good offense,” said a jubliant Beckman Coach Marcello Giuliano. “You could go to so many games throughout the season, we’ve won these 11 in a row and there are moments in games where you can make an excuse or people would make an excuse for you. Our kids just want none of it, they have great competitive spirit.
“You’re down 13 before you bat an eye and they just kept coming back. There were some kids who feel maybe they played their worst game of the season, but they still made some important plays when it mattered, but the character piece. One of the elements of our core values is toughness and we define that as always competing, so it’s not just about physical toughness, which I think we are but it’s also about the emotional resiliency and I think they showed that tonight.”
Beckman was led by running back Makhi Czaykowski, who took over the game scoring three touchdowns and rushing for 208 yards.
It was a wild back and forth final quarter.
Hillcrest moved ahead 40-38 when quarterback quarterback Matthew Ramos connected with Nicholas Shaw on an 11-yard TD pass with 7:46 remaining in the game. Ramos had a big game, passing for 239 yards and two touchdowns.
The Patriots responded. Czaykowski scored on a 1-yard TD run with 4:44 left to put the Patriots ahead 46-40 (he also scored on a 2-point conversion), sealing the win for Beckman. He also hauled in a touchdown catch and finished with six receptions for 858 yards.
The Patriots then recovered a perfectly executed onside kick which caught Hillcrest (9-6) off guard and drove to the Hillcrest 5-yard line before running out the clock.
Czaykowski also hauled in a 17-yard TD pass from quarterback Noah Nam and had a 5-yard TD run at the start of a wild fourth quarter to put Beckman ahead 38-34.
“It was a really good game, I was able to run the ball really well because of our linemen, like Noah Nam always says, everything starts with the line,” Czaykowski said. “And Noah Nam’s leadership was really able to help us execute on offense and we were able to score a lot of points, I think the second most points we’ve scored this season.
“The other team was extremely well coached, they were really fast and definitely the best offense we’ve seen so far this season. It was a track meet, we scored, they scored, we scored, they scored, they actually scored twice before we scored, it just proves how good their offense is.”
Nam was clutch under pressure, completing 16 passes for 225 yards and rushing for 45 yards and two touchdowns. He remained humble in victory.
“It was kind of what we expected, we knew they were going to put up a lot of points and we were going to have to try and match that, so I’m proud of the way our team played, offense and defense, just never giving up on both sides of the ball,” said Nam. “We knew they were a really good offense and we knew we were a really good offense as well. We knew it was going to be a high scoring game, we just had to make a few more plays.”
Nam said the Patriots had a strategy going into the drive which led to the go-ahead TD.
“We talked to the linemen in the huddle saying, ‘this is the biggest drive, we got to put it away,’ the line really stepped up. I couldn’t be more proud of them, they are a great group of linemen, I couldn’t do it without them, Makhi running the ball and Aidan Tran as well. It was excellent, excellent running.”
Tran was also solid, rushing for 63 yards on 10 carries for the Patriots,
Hillcrest, the CIF Division 10 champion, dominated in the first quarter. The Trojans moved ahead 6-0 on a 3-yard TD run by Ramos midway through the first quarter.
On its first play from scrimmage, the Patriots fumbed the exhcange and Hillcrest recovered.
Hillcrest cashed the turnover into a score when Reyez Ortiz scored from one yard out to make it 13-0.
But Beckman responded, cutting the lead to 13-7 on Nam’s 21-yard TD run late in the first quarter. Hillcrest moved ahead 20-7 when when Ramos connected with Nicholas Shaw on a 56-yard scoring strike in the second quarter.
Beckman cut the lead to 20-14 when Nam hit Sawyer Nickelson on a 19-yard TD pass but Hillcrest countered with a score again, this time Ortiz scored from 8 yards out to extend the Trojans lead to 27-14.
Nam’s 2-yard TD run trimmed the lead to 27-21 at halftime.
The second half was back and forth as well. Nam threw a 17-yard TD pass to Czaykowski, Aiden Wimberly had a 22-yard field goal to give Beckman a 31-27 lead late in the third quarter.
But on the ensuing kickoff Nicholas Bernal raced 95 yards for a score to put Hillcrest ahead 31-27 before the Patriots rallied again to earn a berth in the final.
The Patriots were presented the championship plaque on the field with Athletic Director Steve Fischel.
“It’s surreal, I have no idea what it means,” said Giuliano, now in his 11th season leading Beckman. “I’m not good at stopping and smelling any roses, so hopefully after this is all said and done I will have that kind of reflection, but now, it’s like holy smokes, I got one day to prepare for El Cerrito or Atherton, whoever won that game.”
“It’s amazing, I’m taking it all in but just knowing the job is not finished and we got one more,” added Nam the Beckman quarterback. “I’m super proud of my team and the coaches for coaching us well and I couldn’t do it without my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Go to X @ocsportszone for bonus coverage including Fernando M. Donado’s video of Coach Giuliano’s post-game talk to the Patriots and Tim Burt’s video on the celebration.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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