SANTA ANA – Segerstrom settled down in the second half Friday night and defeated Godinez, 19-7, in the Fundamental Bowl at Segerstrom.
Segerstrom leads the series between the two Santa Ana fundamental schools, 4-1.
The Jaguars (1-3) capped the nonleague victory with a touchdown on the final play of the game as Julian Mendoza recovered a fumble and went 30 yards for a touchdown to make it 19-7 as time expired. No conversion was attempted.
Segerstrom fans, part of an estimated crowd of 4,000, poured onto the field to celebrate the victory.
“Godinez just played tough all game,” Segerstrom Coach Mike Maceranka said. “They were physical and tough and (Godinez coach) Aron (Kaye) did a great job tonight.
“We just got lucky. We made a lot of mistakes but we finally overcame our own mistakes. It’s the first time we’ve been 0-3 since our first year so it’s time to get back on track.”
The Jaguars had three fumbles in the first half.
But they were able to take the lead late in the second quarter on a 4-yard touchdown run by Abel Diaz.
Godinez battled back in the third quarter. The Grizzlies (0-4) tied the game, 7-7, when quarterback Michael Rodriguez hit Bryan Ibarra on a 71-yard TD pass with 6:46 left.
The game remained tied after three quarters before Segerstrom pulled off the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.
The Jaguars’ J.C. Caravez set up the score when he took a handoff from quarterback Marcos Avalos and connected with Joseph Moran on a 56-yard pass which put the ball at the Godinez 5-yard line.
“It was a nice play by Joseph Moran,” Maceranka said.
Three plays later, Diaz scored from four yards out to give the Jaguars a 13-7 lead with 8:26 left.
“Obviously, this was a game we wanted to get, but we took a lot of steps in the right direction,” Kaye said. “I’m feeling way better about us now. They came up with some big plays when they had to.”
Contact the writer: burt@ocregister.com
