GARDEN GROVE – With the game and season on the line, Rancho Alamitos coach Mike Enright left it up to the team’s senior quarterback, Nick Brown, to find a way.
Brown showed what he can do for the Vaqueros.
On the Vaqueros’ first possession in overtime, Brown rushed for a 12-yard gain and, on the next play, he went up the middle for a 13-yard touchdown run to send Rancho Alamitos into next week’s CIF-SS Southern Division final with a 34-28 victory over visiting Canyon on Friday at Bolsa Grande High.
Rancho Alamitos (11-2) will face top-seeded Garden Grove in the final Saturday night at a location to be determined. Garden Grove defeated Rancho Alamitos, 35-7, in their regular-season meeting, Oct. 9.
“He’s unbelievable,” Enright said of Brown. “He’s just a gamer. The first one was a sprint out pass and he kept it. The second was a designed run.”
Brown also had three touchdown passes in the game and another rushing touchdown in the first half.
“He does some great things,” Enright said. “I’m proud of this group. We worked real hard to get here and this is a special moment for us.”
It also could have been a nervous moment for the Vaqueros. Rancho Alamitos led for the majority of the game until Canyon (6-7) caught up in the fourth quarter on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Jason Harman to Daniel Casas, making the score 28-28.
The Vaqueros went three and out on their next possession and the Comanches took over with decent field position on the Vaqueros’ 45. Canyon marched down the field before settling for a 38-yard field goal by Noah Faryniarz that was no good as time expired in regulation.
The first possession in overtime played out the same way for the Comanches, giving Brown and the Vaqueros life.
“We knew coming in that this was going to be a barnburner,” Brown said. “There is a difference in playing (as) a team and playing (as) a family, and I think we brought that family aspect to it.
“You could see toward the end of the game. The other team was bickering at each other and our team we stayed strong and encouraged each other. That’s the biggest difference is that we pick each other up. I love my team.”
Rancho Alamitos finished third in the Garden Grove League but got wins over Saddleback (50-34) and Westminster (34-29) to advance to the semifinals.
“We have a bunch of scrappers,” Enright said. “This is a fun team to play with. This is an unbelievable group of kids.”
Canyon rushed for 411 yards in the game. The Comanches started the regular season 0-6, but had won six consecutive.
“They played better than we did tonight,” Canyon coach Mike Ogas said. “We came up short … that’s the way it goes in sports.
Casas had three touchdowns (two rushing and one receiving) for Canyon.
“They shocked us a bit in the first quarter and it was enough to withstand our onslaught at the end,” Ogas said.
Rancho Alamitos scored on each of its first four possessions in the first half to take a 28-14 lead. Leading 28-21 in the third, Brown and the Vaqueros were closing in on another score, but Elliott Payne made a diving interception in the end zone.
Even that, wasn’t enough to derail the Vaqueros dream of making it to the finals.
“Our motto is ‘We Are One’,” Brown said. “If one of us gets down, the other one will step up and our defense did that in the second half. They really gave the offense a boost.”
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
