HUNTINGTON BEACH – San Clemente and quarterback Jack Sears ended Orange County football’s grandest farewell tour Saturday by defeating Edison, 39-35, in a thrilling CIF State Southern Regional final at Huntington Beach.
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The Tritons (12-3) and Sears ended the 31-year head coaching career of Edison’s Dave White by recovering from a late 100-yard interception return for a touchdown by the Chargers’ EJ Ginnis to reach next Saturday’s Division 1-A state final against Del Oro at Sacramento State.
Del Oro defeated Bakersfield, 57-16, in the Northern Regional.
“It’s been a blast,” said White, who announced before the season that he would retire at the end of the year. “The game was like our season – the kids never quit. … (San Clemente) played really well.”
Brandon Reaves scored on a 1-yard TD run with 48 seconds left to give San Clemente a 38-35 lead. A critical extra point by Tristan Trager made it 39-35.
Sears drove San Clemente from its 28 on the winning drive, which started with 4:41 left and included a pair of fourth-and-1 down conversions. The USC commit then played safety to help seal the victory, even breaking up a pass on third down with 15 seconds left.
Edison (13-2) drove to the San Clemente 33, but the final pass from Griffin O’Connor sailed out of the end zone on the last play, igniting a wild celebration with the Tritons and their faithful storming the field.
“I’m a firm believer that adversity doesn’t build character, it reveals your character,” San Clemente coach Jaime Ortiz said. “We faced some adversity, some self-inflicted. … (But) our kids did a great job and our coaches did a great job of keeping our kids composed and battling back. It was a ballgame to the very end.”
In a show of respect, Ortiz had his players stand and clap for White after the game.
“They don’t build them like that anymore,” Ortiz said of White.
Each defense forced a turnover in the third quarter, but San Clemente was the team that capitalized to spark a 36-point fourth period by the two teams.
San Clemente defensive end Austin Moore forced a fumble on his third sack that Riley Croft recovered at the Edison 49 with two minutes left in the third quarter.
Sears made Edison pay, driving the Tritons for a 5-yard TD pass on the first play of the fourth quarter to Isaac Rex, who narrowly stayed inbounds with a leaping catch at the back of the end zone. Sears also ran in the 2-point conversion for a 25-21 lead.
The senior lofted a beautiful 48-yard pass to Chase Berman to the 5 to set up the score.
San Clemente extended its lead to 32-21 on Sears’ 7-yard TD pass to Keith Jones with 6:22 left in the fourth. Reaves, the Tritons’ all-purpose standout, sparked a quick, 42-yard drive with a trick pass to tight end Chris Kane for a 30-yard gain to the Edison 12.
It was Reaves’ first pass of the season, and he completed another one later in the game.
San Clemente long-snapper Taylor Scott helped set up the Tritons’ field position at the 42 by making a tackle on punt coverage at the Edison 2. San Clemente then forced a quick punt and took over at the Chargers’ 42.
But Edison stormed back to regain the lead. Shaun Colamonico took a receiver screen on the first play of the ensuing drive 80 yards for a touchdown from O’Connor with 6:05 left in the fourth and Ginnis returned an interception 100 yards for a go-ahead score with 4:41 left. Edison’s PAT missed, leaving the Chargers with a 35-32 lead and the Tritons a chance to rally.
Sears passed for 262 yards and three TDs and also rushed for 79 yards, a dual-threat attack the Chargers hadn’t encountered this season.
“Sears made some plays tonight,” White said.
In reaching its first state final, San Clemente defeated the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in Division 2 for their first CIF-SS state title and Division 3 champion Edison, which climbed to No. 3 in Orange County this week.
“Honestly, going into tonight’s game, a lot of people picked Edison to win,” Ortiz said. “That’s kind of how our playoff run has gone. … Our kids just keep battling back. They really enjoy playing together. They want to go another week.”
O’Connor drove Edison to a pair of touchdowns in the final 8:33 of the first half to give the Chargers a 21-17 lead at intermission.
Edison showed its quick-strike capabilities on the first drive. The Chargers covered 70 yards on three plays, reaching the end zone on O’Connor’s 38-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver David Atencio over the middle.
O’Connor set up the score with a 24-yard run to the San Clemente 38. The drive lasted just 32 seconds.
Edison then forced its first punt, thanks to a third-down sack by Melvin Bowden.
The Chargers gained their best field position of the half, starting at their 48. O’Connor capped a nine-play march with a 2-yard touchdown run, giving Edison its first lead, 21-17, with 4:04 left in the half.
Edison cornerback Nick Warren broke up a third-down pass attempt to help force another San Clemente punt late in the half.
San Clemente opened a 14-7 lead in the first quarter on two touchdowns by Austin Whitsett.
The junior capped the Tritons’ opening nine-play, 82-yard drive by racing untouched 36 yards for a score on a well-designed screen pass from Sears. The play started right with Reaves in the picture but Sears threw back to his left to Whitsett.
Edison responded with an eight-play, 80-yard scoring march punctuated by an 8-yard TD pass from O’Connor to Colamonico late in the first.
But Whitsett wasn’t done. He returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown to give San Clemente a 14-7 lead going into the second quarter.
Trager booted a 32-yard field goal to extend San Clemente’s lead to 17-7 with 8:33 left in the second quarter. Edison and O’Connor took over from there with two scoring drives. O’Connor, a junior threw for 370 yards and three TDs in the face of a strong blitz. Colamonico finished with seven catches for 172 yards while Bowden and Kenny Carmichael each recorded a pair of sacks.
White is retiring so he can watch his son, Garrett, play football at Yale.
“I know I’m going to miss the heck out of it (coaching Edison). I’ll probably be going crazy,” White said walking to the team bus afterward. “But I’ll be with my family. I always tell these kids, family comes first. … There’s no losers tonight.”
Contact the writer: dalbano@scng.com
