MURRIETA – Minutes after it was over, Kyle Williams was in tears, Coley Candaele was shaking his head, and a capacity crowd was in disbelief.
Williams’ 3-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Long with no time left on the clock gave Vista Murrieta an improbable 28-27 victory over visiting Tesoro on Friday night in the second round of the CIF-SS West Valley playoffs.
Vista Murrieta (10-2), which trailed, 24-0, at the half, will play at Upland (10-2) in the semifinals.
“I told the kids we’ve been a second-half team, and all we need is one play,” said Candaele, the Broncos’ longtime coach. “We needed one good thing to go our way, and we’re back in the game.”
The Broncos had quite a few good plays in the final half, but they still trailed by six with time running out.
Vista Murrieta began its final possession at its own 35. Williams threw a lateral pass to Jamie Nunley, who then hit Colin Baker for a 37-yard gain. Four plays later, the Broncos were on Tesoro’s 3 with four seconds left.
Long, who did not touch the ball for almost 48 minutes, had his number called with the season hanging in the balance.
“They didn’t cover me, and the ball was floating in the air, and I jumped and caught it,” said Long, who lined up as a tight end.
The play caught the Titans by surprise.
“We were in man-coverage, and (Long) slipped out underneath us,” Tesoro linebacker Chris Labdon said. “It was a trick play, and we weren’t ready for it.”
For two quarters, it looked like it would be Tesoro’s night. The Titans (9-3) built a large, early lead behind junior QB Devon Modster (343 yards passing, two TDs).
The Broncos began their comeback early in the third quarter without benefit of an offensive play.
Brandon Worthy blocked a Tesoro punt, and Dwayne Johnson scooped up the loose ball and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown.
Less than four minutes later, Zaire Webb forced a fumble with a vicious hit on Carter Jaenichen. Jalen Russell recovered and brought the ball back for an 82-yard score, cutting Vista Murrieta’s deficit to 24-14 in the third quarter.
Williams avoided a sack and heaved a 26-yard scoring pass to Nunley with 3:51 remaining in the game.
