MISSION VIEJO – Capistrano Valley simply hadn’t seen a team like Calabasas.
The Cougars had been dominant defensively all season, but nothing prepared them for what top-seeded Calabasas brought to Saturday night’s game.
Tristan Gebbia threw for 505 yards and five touchdowns as Calabasas won its second straight CIF-Southern Section title by beating the Cougars, 35-14, in the Division 5 championship at Capistrano Valley High.
“It’s disappointing,” Capistrano Valley coach Ernie Bucher said. “We got to the finals. There’s only 26 teams playing this weekend. There’s nothing to hang our head about. It’s going to be tough when we go in the weight room and talk, but we’re still very pound.”
Calabasas (14-0) won the Western Division title a year ago and has gone 27-2 over the last two seasons after going 0-10 in 2013 and 6-6 year in 2014.
“Really happy for the kids,” Calabasas coach Casey Clausen said. “Our whole thing with the program is to put the kids in positions to be successful. They’ve worked hard.”
Capistrano Valley (12-2) won the Sea View League in convincing fashion in large part with its aggressive defense, which allowed just more than eight points per game.
The Cougars’ previous high score allowed was just 17 points in their lone regular-season loss, to San Juan Hills on Sept. 9.
“(The difference was) their athleticism and the accuracy of their quarterback and his ability to get rid of the ball,” Bucher said. “We’ve hounded quarterbacks all year, but maybe got to him (Gebbia) twice tonight.”
The Capo Valley defense did make an early impact.
Justin Burk intercepted Calabasas on its first drive in the end zone, and Ryan Schurmer recovered a fumble on Calabasas’ second series.
The Cougars couldn’t mount anything on offense as quarterback Kevin Brown was 1 for 9 throwing in the first half for zero yards.
Capo Valley was down 14-0 before it got a first down in the game, on a 17-yard run by Jake Werner.
Calabasas broke through on a 25-yard pass to Keyshawn Johnson Jr. late in the first quarter.
Calabasas really got clicking midway through the second quarter as Gebbia threw touchdown passes on three straight drives.
Johnny Wilson leaped to pull in a 4-yard TD pass, Hunter Nichols grabbed a 22-yard score and Wilson caught a second TD pass on a 55-yard sprint up the Capo Valley sideline.
“The defense battled, as they have all season,” Bucher said. “Eventually they (Calabasas) got a couple big plays and kind of wore us down a little bit because our defense was out there so much.”
Gebbia threw for 371 yards in the first half as Calabasas outgained Capo Valley, 401 yards to 22 yards, in the first half and held a 28-0 halftime lead.
Calabasas went ahead 35-0 on its first drive of the second half with a 7-yard TD pass to Brendan Radley-Hiles.
After Juan Carlos Saldivar recovered a fumble at the Calabasas 29-yard line, Brown hit Werner on a 10-yard TD pass in the third quarter. Brown threw a second TD pass, 30 yards to Matt Blethen, with 29 seconds remaining.
