HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : 2--A Football Roundup : Late Stand by Oceanside beats Kearny

Oceanside High achieved a No. 1 ranking in the state earlier in the season with a potent offensive attack.

Friday night against Kearny in the first round of the Class 2-A playoffs, it was a determined defense that enabled Oceanside to hold off Kearny, 20-15, and advance to the quarterfinals against Valhalla (6-4).

In dramatic fashion, the Pirate defense came up with a goal-line stand with less than a minute remaining.

With Kearny trailing, 20-15, Danny Johnson tackled Oceanside punter Felipe Beltran at the 27-yard line after Beltran had fumbled the punt snap with 1 minute 15 seconds remaining.

Kearny quarterback Tom Rawlins then passed 22 yards to Johnson to give the Komets a first and goal at the Oceanside 5. Rawlins ran two quarterback sneaks for 3 yards and 1 yard. On third and goal from the 1, Rawlins threw to receiver Mark Hood in the corner of the end zone. The pass was broken up by defensive back Mike Coe, who had intercepted his seventh pass of the year earlier in the game.

Then came the big play: fourth and goal from the 1 with 31 seconds remaining. Rawlins pitched back to Tosh Huguley, who was met 3 yards deep in the backfield by safety Lee Strain and linebacker Sibian Fuimaono. Oceanside had held.

It was a game filled with big defensive plays. Strain also had an interception and a fumble recovery.

“We figured they were going to run that play,” Strain said. “(Huguley) was looking where he was going to run coming out of the huddle.”

Coe had made a similar prediction on the play before. “We were thinking pass all the way,” he said. “I figured they were going to try to go up with it like they did earlier. I just timed it right and knocked it down.”

All the scoring came in the first half. Oceanside (8-3) got touchdowns on big plays from Butkus Tuitasi (5-yard run), Terry Pennington (94-yard kickoff return) and Fred Dunn (71-yard pass from Chad Crites). Huguley had both touchdowns for Kearny (4-7), a 6-yard pass from Rawlins and a 10-yard run.

USDHS 14, Crawford 0--After a scoreless first half, the Dons took advantage of of a bad snap on an attempted Crawford field goal in the third period. University ran the ball back to the Crawford 36 and on the ensuing play, University’s Steve Walker ran for the 36-yard touchdown. With 1:30 on the clock, the Dons scored again on Andy Penaflor’s 5-yard run. Walker rushed 14 times for 84 yards and had 1 interception. For Crawford (7-4), Eric Turner ran 96 yards on 18 carries and quarterback Chris Johnson completed 10 passes on 26 attempts for 141 yards. University (8-3) advances to meet top-ranked Rancho Buena Vista.

El Camino 21, Santana 19--Highly favored El Camino (8-2-1) got by Santana (5-5) to advance to the quarterfinals.