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  • San Clemente quarterback Sam Darnold walks off the field after...

    San Clemente quarterback Sam Darnold walks off the field after losing the CIF-SS Southwest Division championship game at San Clemente High School on Friday.

  • Known as a strong-armed passer, San Clemente's Sam Darnold ran...

    Known as a strong-armed passer, San Clemente's Sam Darnold ran for 181 yards in a close loss to Trabuco Hills at Friday night's Southwest Division title game.

  • San Clemente's Brandon Reaves gets away from Trabuco Hills' Brenden...

    San Clemente's Brandon Reaves gets away from Trabuco Hills' Brenden Schooler (22) and Colin Schooler (6) to score in the first half with of the CIF-SS Southwest Division championship game at San Clemente High School on Friday.

  • San Clemente's Vlad Dzhabiyev scores a touchdown in the first...

    San Clemente's Vlad Dzhabiyev scores a touchdown in the first half of the CIF-SS Southwest Division championship game at San Clemente High School on Friday.

  • Trabuco Hills players swarm Noah Thompson as they celebrate his...

    Trabuco Hills players swarm Noah Thompson as they celebrate his touchdown that put them ahead. Meanwhile, dejected San Clemente defenders look stunned in the second half of the CIF-SS Southwest Division championship game at San Clemente High.

  • Trabuco Hills' Colin Schooler runs for the end zone to...

    Trabuco Hills' Colin Schooler runs for the end zone to score a touchdown while being pursued by San Clemente's Sam Darnold,left, in the second half Friday. Schooler's fumble return was a key play in the second half of the CIF-SS Southwest Division championship game.

  • San Clemente's Dean Licht pulls in a long pass as...

    San Clemente's Dean Licht pulls in a long pass as Trabuco Hills' Bohan tries to defend in the second half of the CIF-SS Southwest Division championship game at San Clemente High School on Friday.

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SAN CLEMENTE – Sam Darnold was dazed, more by reality than the hit.

In the fourth quarter, with his San Clemente team trailing by 10 points, the senior quarterback took off on a run around left end.

He had gained a few yards when he skipped past a diving Trabuco Hills defender. Darnold got smacked by another Trabuco player as he was going out of bounds in front of the San Clemente sideline. He went down and did not get up.

The team doctor and trainers checked on Darnold, seated on the turf out of bounds. They took him to the bench. They did all those concussion tests you’ve seen players undergo on college and NFL sidelines.

Then Darnold got the information he did not want to receive: You’re done, kid.

Darnold did what NFL and college football players do when they learn they just have been taken out of the biggest games of their lives. He bent over and buried his head in his hands.

Jack Sears, a sophomore, took over and guided the Tritons to a field goal. It would be their final points of the game in Trabuco Hills’ 44-37 win over San Clemente in the CIF-Southern Section Southwest Division championship game Friday night.

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Related stories:

Trabuco Hills captures Southwest in wild battle

Jacobs, Mustangs have the last word

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Darnold did his best when he could. He rushed for 181 yards and passed for 204. Darnold completed 12 of 15 passes.

At the CIF-SS football championships luncheon Monday, San Clemente coach Jaime Ortiz introduced Darnold as “our quarterback and defensive end.”

USC coach Steve Sarkisian was at the luncheon as guest speaker. He looked up quickly, hoping that indeed it was a joke that his future quarterback – Darnold committed to USC months ago – would be a two-way player.

The Tritons perhaps could have used Darnold on defense. Trabuco Hills was able to run and throw their way to the most points the San Clemente allowed this season.

Trabuco quarterback Jimmy Jacobs, running back Chad Crosbie and receiver Jake Breeland kept getting first downs and touchdowns for the Mustangs.

Friday’s game was much like the Trabuco Hills-San Clemente game played at San Clemente High in October. San Clemente won that Sea View League game, 42-35.

The cumulative score of the two Mustangs-Tritons games is 79-79. It’s too bad they can’t arrange a rubber match.

Trabuco Hills bounced back from that league loss to finish second in the Sea View and roll through the playoff to Friday’s final. Breeland, who committed to Oregon, was a big reason why.

Breeland’s first touchdown catch Friday had him making a leaping grab along the right sideline of the end zone. As sparkling as the catch was, the celebration was more so: A Trabuco Hills fan tossed a large amount of silver confetti in the air with much of it landing in the end zone.

A quick clean-up attempt did not go so well.

Smart coaches know that big plays and points are there for the taking on special teams in high school football. Trabuco Hills coach Tony Henney called for a punt block and it worked. The Mustangs blocked a San Clemente punt deep in San Clemente territory, took over at the 10 and two plays later Breeland’s second touchdown catch, another leaping grab on the right side of the end zone, gave Trabuco its 30-21 lead.

Trabuco Hills wanted the game played somewhere else besides San Clemente’s on-campus Thalassa Stadium. If the fear was Trabuco’s belief that Thalassa, capacity 5,000, was not large enough that fear was unfounded.

Extra bleachers were set up behind the end zones. The Trabuco band was in the west end zone with about 20 spectators. The San Clemente band was in the east end zone bleachers with about 35 spectators.

Those were comfortable places to be seated. Darnold would later find that sitting was a most uncomfortable position.

Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com