Servite goes for two, loses to Lakewood in OT

CERRITOS - Servite coach Troy Thomas watched his team erase a 14-point deficit late in regulation to force overtime at 28-28 and had just closed to 35-34 in the first extra session.

His Friars had originally lined up for the extra point try but an encroachment penalty against Lakewood moved the ball inside the 2.

Thomas took a timeout and sent his troops out to get the victory. It wasn't to be as a Cody Fajardo pass went incomplete, giving Lakewood a thrilling 35-34 victory in the first round of the Pac 5 Division playoffs Friday night at Cerritos College. (Full game stats.)

Fajardo, who was 24 of 34 for 219 yards passing, marched his team downfield on consecutive drives in the final four minutes after Lakewood (5-6) had taken a 28-14 lead with 5:26 left on Jerry Stone's 2-yard run.

After completing passes to Rudy Guerrero and Christopher Nicholls, Fajardo himself was the receiver on a 34-yard strike from Bijon Samoodi to put the ball at the Lancers' 20.

Fajardo then completed back-to-back strikes to Guerrero, who took it in from 9 yards out to draw within 28-21 with 3:46 to go.

The Friars' defense, paced by Cole Pooler and Dontaie Ferguson forced a turnover on downs with 1:41 left and the ball at the Servite 26. Five completions in a row to Nicholls, Guerrero and Jamar Johnson moved the ball to the Lancers' 23 with just over a minute remaining. Two Fajardo runs moved the ball to the 2.

Fajardo then lobbed a nifty pass to a waiting Troy Niklas with just 23 seconds to go, sending the Friars' faithful into a frenzy.

In overtime, Stone, who led Lakewood with 222 yards rushing, scored two plays in on a 16-yard run for his second score. Servite (7-4) did that one better as Gregory Portis scored one play later on a 25-yard drive to close to one.

Lakewood took a 7-0 lead in the first on a 5-yard pass from Jesse Scroggins to Ronald Pigee to cap a 66-yard drive. Servite marched 80 yards in 12 plays on the ensuing drive, capped by a two2-yard run by Samoodi who had a yeoman night on defense as well.

• Click here for full game stats and links to team rosters and season totals.

Contact the writer: preps@ocregister.com