PHOTOS: Segerstrom’s comeback in final minute falls short against Kaiser

Segerstrom’s Noble Acosta dives in for a touchdown Friday night. (Photos courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone).

Segerstrom High School’s football team had enough offense Friday night to pull off an upset over Kaiser Friday night in a non-league game.

But penalties and turnovers hurt the Jaguars and Kaiser capitalized to win a back and forth highly-entertaining non-league game 35-33 on homecoming and senior night at Segerstrom.

It was a wild, dramatic finish and the fans who packed the Segerstrom side were on their feet.

To see the slide show, click on the first photo:

Segerstrom (1-4) recovered an onside kick after closing the gap to two points on a 1-yard TD run by Noble Acosta with 56 seconds left in the game. The Jaguars missed the two-point try to tie it.

After the onside kick, recovery, with no timeouts, Segerstrom advanced the ball to the Kaiser 40 yard line, but the drive stalled there.

The Jaguars came out fired up, jumping to a 14-0 lead, but could not hold on.

“It was a hard-fought battle, the kids came out and showed a lot of grit,” said Segerstrom Coach Joseph Tagaloa. “I’m very proud of the effort we gave tonight. Obviously, we made one too many mistakes out there that just kind of kept them around.

“They got a little bit of momentum and unfortunately we weren’t able to finish like we had hoped. But I’m definitely proud of our effort.”

Segerstrom turned the ball over twice on fumbles and Kaiser (3-2) also had an interception which led to a touchdown.

Kaiser was led by junior running back Jonathan Marshall, who had four touchdown runs and rushed for 175 yards.

Segerstrom quarterback Jesse Lopez passed for 240 yards and had touchdown passes to Noah Tagaloa, Daniel Solano and Acosta.

Noah Tagaloa sprinted 30 yards after a catch for the Jaguars first score after they recovered a fumble on the opening kick-off. Tagaloa, who had eight catches for 84 yards, also had a 5-yard TD run in the second quarter that put Segerstrom ahead 21-14.

Acosta returned after being out with an injury and made an impact scoring two TDs, rushing for 49 yards and making five catches for 80 yards.

“This is his first game back so it was obviously great for him to get back out there and compete with us so I’m very proud of his effort tonight,” Coach Tagaloa said. “He missed the last five and a half weeks with a fractured foot. He came out today and played really well.”

Segerstrom led 21-14 at halftime and held a 27-21 lead after Lopez connected with Acosta on a 28-yard TD pass with 5:23 left in the third quarter.

But Kaiser answered with two scores, a 1-yard TD run by Marshall which put the Cats ahead 28-27 and a 26-yard TD pass from quarterback Tristan Reyes to Luke Rozier that gave Kaiser a 35-27 lead with 7:20 left in the game.

“We want to get out there and fly until the last whistle and that’s what the boys did today,” Coach Tagaloa said. “It’s just unfortunate we made too many mistakes throughout the game that kind of cost us.

“But we learn from this and we get better. It’s hard to call an offensive play when it’s first and 30 and second and 25, turning the ball over, missing a PAT. Obviously, there are a lot of things that we didn’t execute well enough, but our kids work hard and they fought all the way through and regardless of what they faced tonight, they just continue to battle, which is why I’m so proud of them.”

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com