GRANADA HILLS – A few Corona del Mar defenders stood seemingly frozen in disbelief near their end zone as Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth sprinted toward the middle of the field to celebrate the narrowest of victories in double overtime.
The school known for pulling out one-point victories in the CIF-SS Division 4 playoffs found itself on the opposite end Friday night in the final at chilly and windy Granada Hills.
Bobby Cole ran in a 2-point conversion on the final play to lift the top-seeded Trailblazers to a 36-35 victory in a thrilling final against third-seeded Corona del Mar.
Corona del Mar coach Dan O’Shea exhaled before trying to grasp the sudden turn of events for the Sea Kings (12-2).
“These playoffs were unbelievable,” said O’Shea, whose squad rallied to edge Lompoc, 35-34, in the semifinals, and held off Colony, 49-48, in the second round. “So proud of our kids. So proud of our coaching staff. We will live and die with these kids every single day. … (This) just tells you how competitive these divisions are now with the competitive equity (model), and we love it.”
Corona del Mar took its first lead, 35-28, on a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Chase Garbers to open the second overtime. A slick hold by Sam Solomon helped Max Casper convert the PAT.
But Sierra Canyon (13-0) quickly responded. On its second play, sophomore QB Johnny Hawkins threw a 20-yard touchdown to Michael Myrick, who did most of the work after a short catch along his sideline.
Corona del Mar, still leading, 35-34, called timeout. Sierra Canyon appeared ready to go for the 2-point conversion coming out of the timeout and called its own timeout. The Trailblazers then called for Cole to attack the middle of the line.
“Being a small school, we had a great deal of our players going both ways and they had a numbers advantage and I just felt my team getting worn down,” Sierra Canyon coach Jon Ellinghouse said of going for 2. “Quite honestly, I didn’t want to see their quarterback on the field again so I thought that was our chance. We give the ball to our best player and run our best play.”
In the first overtime, Garbers threw a 12-yard touchdown, the 91st of his career, to freshman John Humphreys to answer Sierra Canyon’s first score and make it, 28-28.
With the score tied, 21-21, late in the fourth quarter, the Cal commit drove Corona del Mar from its 3 to Sierra Canyon 9 with about 2:50 left and first-and-goal ahead. But after a 1-yard run and two incompletions, the Sea Kings attempted a 24-yard field goal but missed with 1:41 left.
A few Corona del Mar players thought the kick was good, and so did O’Shea.
“I thought it was good without a doubt,” he said. “That was a game-winner. That was tough. That was really tough.”
Garbers completed 20 of 34 passes for 193 yards and rushed for 73 yards and three TDs.
Running back JT Murphy rushed for 240 yards on 27 carries behind linemen Arwin Rahmatpanah, Bryan Samudro, Colston Chacon, Sean Owens and Denham King.
CdM’s Clyde Moore and Connor Reid recorded sacks while Jack Fairon had a tackle for loss and pass breakup.
Corona del Mar trailed, 14-7, at halftime but tied score on a 5-yard TD run by Murphy with 2:57 left in the third quarter. Sierra Canyon countered with an 80-yard scoring drive that left the Sea Kings trailing, 21-14, going into the fourth.
But Murphy sparked a 65-yard scoring drive with a 45-yard gain and Garbers capped the drive with a 2-yard TD run early in the fourth to tie the score, 21-21.
Garbers scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 13 seconds left in the first half to trim Sierra Canyon’s lead to 14-7 at intermission.
Garbers’ run capped a 69-yard scoring drive in the final 2:22 of the second quarter. Garbers opened the drive with a 3-yard run and finished the trek with four carries for 22 yards.
The Sea Kings nearly scored first but had a 16-yard touchdown pass was negated by a holding penalty.
Garbers still converted on fourth-and-3 two plays later as Corona del Mar opted against a short field goal attempt. Garbers used his legs to pick up 3 yards to the Sierra Canyon 12 but on the next play, Sierra Canyon recovered a fumble.
Sierra Canyon capitalized about a minute later on a 59-yard tackle-busting touchdown run by Cole to open a 7-0 lead.
The Trailblazers’ strike stung the Sea Kings. CdM had recovered a second fumble at the Sierra Canyon 33 to start their march into the red zone.
Cole also scored without the aid of offensive lineman Kanan Ray, a UCLA commit who limped off the field on the first possession and didn’t return.
Contact the writer: dalbano@scng.com
