PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE : Century in First Place After Victory

SANTA ANA —  Thanks to a 17-16 victory over Costa Mesa Thursday night at Santa Ana Stadium, Century finds itself alone in first place today.

No matter what happens tonight, no matter what happens the rest of the season, at least the Centurions can say they had first place all to themselves.

And who could have predicted that would happen when the season began?

Strange but true for Orange County’s newest high school, which improved to 4-4-1, 3-1 in Pacific Coast League play. Of course, Trabuco Hills (2-1 in league) and Laguna Hills (also 2-1) are likely to catch up with Century tonight, but for a few hours the Centurions are on top.

The loss knocked Costa Mesa (3-6, 1-3) out of playoff contention.

A 39-yard field goal by Julio Bonilla with 5 minutes 45 seconds left in the game provided the winning points for Century. And some gritty defense in the final minutes kept Century ahead.

Costa Mesa moved the ball from its 20-yard line to the Century 24, but Josh Peca’s 41-yard field goal fell short with 1:48 left.

“This game scared me more than any other because of their physical size,” Century Coach Bill Brown said of Costa Mesa.

That size (read: a big offensive line) Brown spoke of helped block the way for running back Binh Tran, who rushed for 191 yards and two touchdowns in 32 carries.

“We’re not very big but we’re tough,” Brown said. “We stopped them when we had to.”

Good thing, too. Tran, Orange County’s leading rusher, had only a few chances to break into the open. One was a 19-yard gain to the Century four that set up his two-yard touchdown run. Another was a 61-yard scoring run.

Century’s touchdowns came on four- and one-yard runs by Reggie Alvarez. The second scoring run brought the Centurions within 16-14 with 2:04 left in the third quarter.