NORWALK When the sun comes up to shine down on Pacifica High, the realization will sink in.

"We did some amazing stuff with the team we had," Mariners coach Guy Gardner said. "Our guys kept chugging, and that's a credit to them; to keep believing and keep going."

It might seem Pacifica quarterback Raymond Huizar will have it the hardest, trying to deal with a 36-30 loss at the hands of Cypress in the CIF-SS Southern Division championship game at Cerritos College. But Gardner wasn't so easy on himself, either.

He talked about certain plays he'd like back to do over again if he had the chance, like running the ball instead of play-action on second-and-goal at the 7-yard line allowing Ryan Saumur to return a fumble 85 yards and give the Centurions the lead.

"You either throw the ball away or eat it, but it got away," Gardner said. "There's going to be a bunch of second-guessing; I'm going to do that to myself all the time … what I could have done or should have done.

"But even at that point to be up 24-7 and have it completely turned around is really not what you want to have happened.

"We can say we bungled the last three or four plays but to put ourselves in the position to have to do that was not ideal; it's what makes it so painful to lose it in that kind of situation where you have the lead, relinquish the lead, and then come back to have to win it and you don't."

It was Huizar who was stopped just short of a winning touchdown.

"It's going to be a painful one for him," Gardner said. "He had such a great year and to have it go down to where he barely doesn't get in."

There was a gutsy move by Gardner when Pacifica faked a punt and threw on fourth-and-9 to get the first down and keep the drive alive.

"Momentum," Gardner explained on why they went with that play. "We weren't stopping them. We didn't want to give up the ball again. I kind of felt in my gut that if we would have punted there was a good chance they might go down and score again."

Contact the writer: mmelendez@ocregister.com