YORBA LINDA – – The first quarter went about as poorly as Canyon coach Mike Ogas could’ve imagined.
Protection breakdowns, dropped passes and missed blocking assignment contributed to hamstring the Comanches’ offense, and the defense had trouble containing Yorba Linda’s stable of backs who were consistently breaking into the second level of the defense.
The Comanches found themselves chasing two touchdowns by the start of the second quarter all because of a lack of execution.
When the wheels finally got going in the second half, there was no stopping Canyon.
Senior quarterback Jason Harman tossed three touchdowns, ran for another and was the spark that ignited 36 consecutive Canyon points in a 39-24 comeback victory over host Yorba Linda in the nonleague finale for both schools.
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Connolly’s Postgame Talk: How Canyon rallied to beat Yorba Linda
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Trailing, 17-3, at the end of the first, the Comanches (4-3) went on and eventually grabbed a 39-17 edge late in the fourth quarter, completely changing the outlook of the game with a dominant second half showing.
“Worst first quarter since last season,” Ogas said. “We had a little five-minute staff meeting there at halftime and figured out what we could execute in that second half.
“Their front was big and they’re a really good defense. Honestly, I’m kind of shocked with the success we had in the second half. I thought we could come back, but I didn’t know we could come back like that.”
After going 7 of 17 for 33 yards in the first half, Harman connected on 7 of 8 pass attempts after the break for 183 yards to finish with 216 yards on the night.
His 2-yard quarterback sneak to open the second half cut Canyon’s deficit to 17-13, and he added touchdown passes of 44 and 81 yards to Charlie Treanor and Garrett McDowell later in the quarter to take a 25-17 lead into the fourth.
Harman connected with Noah Faryniarz with 4:21 to play on a 3-yard strike to go up by 15, and it was Josh Semaan’s 55-yard interception return for a touchdown on the ensuing Yorba Linda (2-5) drive that put the exclamation point on such a drastic turnaround.
“Athletes make plays,” Ogas added. “Fortunately we have a couple athletes and they made some big plays for us tonight.”
Mustangs running back Mason Winter finished with a game-high 123 yards rushing on 23 carries and scored one of Yorba Linda’s two first quarter touchdowns.
Both the Mustangs and Comanches will begin league play next week.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
