GARDEN GROVE – Second-seeded Westminster stormed back from an 18-point deficit in the fourth quarter and appeared to score the winning touchdown with 11 seconds to play in Friday night’s CIF-SS playoff showdown with Rancho Alamitos at Bolsa Grande High.
But a penalty flag changed everything.
Matt Dinh found Dat Tran in the end zone on fourth down from the 20-yard line, but he was flagged for stepping beyond the line of scrimmage, and Rancho Alamitos celebrated a 34-29 upset in a Southern Division second-round thriller.
Nick Brown, Orange County’s No. 2 passer, threw for 331 yards to surpass 3,700 this season and four touchdowns to extend his county record to 49 as the seventh-ranked Vaqueros (10-2) advanced to a semifinal against Canyon (7-5), a 27-3 winner over Los Amigos, next Friday at Bolsa Grande. It’s Rancho Alamitos’ first final-four game in nearly two decades.
Brown completed 25 of 33 passes, saw two receivers amass more than 100 yards (Devin Velez with 111 and Alberto Meneses with 108) and another with 98 (Joe Lainez) as Rancho Alamitos opened a 34-16 lead with two minutes to go in the third quarter.
Westminster (9-3) rallied behind Humberto Maciel, who ran for a season-best 250 yards and four touchdowns, including 10- and 8-yard TD sprints 34 seconds apart to pull the Lions within five points with 6:08 to play.
“This is what high school playoffs are supposed to be,” Rancho Alamitos coach Mike Enright said. “We told our kids they’re not going to quit, and they came flying back like gangbusters. We just held on, enough to win it.”
The Lions marched 80 yards in less than two minutes after Thomas Nguyen intercepted Brown in the end zone 31/2 minutes into the fourth quarter, then recovered the ensuing onside kick, quickly got to Rancho’s 25 on a late-hit penalty, then were in the end zone after two Maciel runs.
The Vaqueros stopped Maciel on the two-point conversion try, but they had to punt on their next possession, after a penalty erased a 17-yard gain and Brown was sacked by Alejandro Reyes.
That gave Westminster life, and it drove from its 19 to the Rancho 25 – with Dinh hitting Daniel White for 18 yards in fourth down and Maciel running for 19 on third-and-12 – to set up the final drama.
