San Clemente wins shootout vs. Dana Hills

SAN CLEMENE - For the second consecutive week, No. 9 San Clemente's defense delivered late in the fourth quarter.

It capped a wild South Coast League opener with Dana Hills, won by the Tritons, 41-31, on Friday night at San Clemente High.

Tritons coach Eric Patton expected a high-scoring contest, but not all the momentum-changing plays that came with it, he said.

"It was a very unusual game," he said. "We were lucky to come out on top."

In a 31-31 tie, the Dolphins (3-3, 0-1) forced San Clemente to punt and took over at their  1-yard line.

On the next play, linebacker Jack Anderson met running Brett Giesen at the goal line, knocking the ball loose. It was recovered by Alex Kahn  in the end zone and the Tritons led, 38-31, with 2:32 to play.

"I knew they were going to run the ball right up the middle," Anderson said.

Giesen scored on touchdown runs of 49 and 51 yards before the fumble. His second big run brought the Dolphins even at 31 with 9:27 to play.

The Tritons (6-0, 1-0) had just taken the lead, 31-24, on Tyler Wilde's 5-yard touchdown pass from Duke DeLancellotti. DeLancellotti had three touchdown passes and ran for another. He finished with a career-high 343  passing yards.

Josh Leff turned in another crucial play before halftime. Peter Adams broke free down the sideline and was headed to the goal line, but Leff  caught him at the 2, knocked the ball loose, and Aaron Jones recovered in the  end zone to keep it 14-3 San Clemente.

The Tritons took advantage, scoring on a 40-yard pass from  DeLancellotti to Dominick Ela.

Dylan Denso took the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a score to make  it 21-10. Jones hit a 44-yard field goal as time expired before the half and the Tritons led, 24-10.

The last three scores of the first half happened in the final 28  seconds.

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Contact the writer: ctobolski@ocregister.com