NEWPORT BEACH – Laguna Beach and Sage Hill entered their nonleague matchup Friday night with 1-3 records, and both wanted to desperately trying to turn the tide with league play set to begin next week.
In a nail-biting finish, Laguna Beach came back late in the fourth quarter to defeat Sage Hill, 21-17.
After getting off to an early 14-0 lead, the Breakers (2-3) gave up 17 unanswered points and trailed, 17-14, with only five minutes remaining in the game.
However, thanks to a resilient offensive drive led by senior quarterback Jack Simon, the team was able to regain the lead in less than two minutes on a 28-yard scramble by Simon.
Prior to the wining touchdown run, Simon looked like he was going to take a loss on a scramble, but he broke free, fighting through multiple tackles to gain a much-needed 9 yards for a first down. On the next play, he broke free again, this time ending up in the end zone for the decisive points.
Simon finishedwith three touchdowns – two rushing and one throwing. He completed 12 of 18 pass attempts for 150 yards and rushed for 153 yards on 24 carries.
Laguna Beach’s coach, Ted Clarke, was proud of the way his team fought back and expressed his thoughts on his versatile quarterback.
“Jack (Simon) is just an amazing athlete. We’ve said it before.. He’s the heart and soul of this team,” Clarke said after the comeback win.
Laguna Beach hosts Costa Mesa next week to begin Orange Coast League play while Sage Hill travels to University.
