A seesaw battle between two gridiron juggernauts came down to the final seconds on Friday night, as Valley Center kicker, cornerback and wide receiver David Last got the last word for the Jaguars in a 31–28 victory over Los Alamitos.
Last kicked the game-winning field goal from 47 yards out with just over 30 seconds left in the game, then picked off a Los Alamitos pass on the final play of the contest to seal the win for the Jags.
“The adrenaline kicked in and I wasn’t thinking about much,” Last said of the pressure-packed field goal. I felt confident going out there because I’ve practiced it a lot.”
On the interception to end the Griffins’ last-gasp comeback attempt, Last saw his opportunity to make a play and literally jumped at the chance.
“I was just dropping back because I knew they had to pass,” he said. “Once I had it, I saw that time ran out, so I just slid down.”
The Jaguars took their first lead of the game with just under seven minutes left in the game, and even after the No. 5-ranked team in the state came back to tie the score with 2:24 remaining, the Jags didn’t panic.
“The drive and the motivation to win that we showed tonight, you can’t teach that,” quarterback Beau Reilly said. “We had a lot of guys going down with injuries, and those guys over there, I mean, I’m looking at their defense down by the goal line and I can barely see over some of them. But when we got down, we overcame it and put together a drive when we needed it most.”
The Jags got good field position on their final drive, thanks to a squib kick that linebacker/tight end Jacob Beason returned to his own 35. From there, Valley Center drove to the Los Alamitos 30 yard line, milking the clock along the way, but the drive stalled and Last came on to try the long field goal.
Last hit a 46-yard field goal in the season opener against San Pasqual, and when the Jags needed him to hit another long kick, he came through. The 47-yard game-winner cleared the crossbar with plenty of room to spare.
The Jaguar defense also came through in the clutch, grabbing three interceptions and forcing the Griffins to punt five times, including three times in the second half. Linebacker Stehly Reden recorded a sack in the second half, while both he and Kenny Thomas wreaked havoc in the Los Alamitos backfield all game long.
And on offense, the Jags once again relied on the running of Travis Bernard, who racked up 157 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries, but also showed off a new weapon in tight end Jean-Marc Brierre, who made six catches for 43 yards and a touchdown.
“Jean-Marc had a great night,” head coach Rob Gilster said. “He showed us that he can be everything we thought he could be, and even more.”
Los Alamitos received the opening kickoff to start the game, but after allowing two first down conversions, the Valley Center defense stepped up and forced a punt, when Thomas knocked down a pass at the line on third down.
The Jaguars took over at their own 17 and picked up a quick first down on a pass from Reilly to Aguilar, but couldn’t get another first down and punted.
The Griffins’ running game came alive on their second drive, as running back Cody Paul started attacking the edge of the Valley Center defensive line. Still, the Jags forced Los Alamitos into a fourth and short situation, which the Griffins converted by the narrowest of margins, and stuffed two runs at the goal line.
But the Griffins scored the game’s first touchdown on the drive, plunging in from one yard out to go up 7–0 with just over three minutes left in the first quarter.
Valley Center needed a good drive to respond, and the offense came through in a big way. Bernard provided the spark with a big kickoff return to the Valley Center 48, and the Jags got some more yardage thanks to a personal foul penalty that put the ball at the Los Alamitos 37 to begin the drive.
From there, the Jags needed only five plays to score, including a big gain on a pass in the flat to Last, who broke tackles and got inside the 15 for a first down. Brierre scored his first touchdown as a Jaguar three plays later, as he out-leaped a defender in the front corner of the end zone, hauled in the pass and got his foot down just inside the line for the game-tying score with just over a minute left in the first quarter.
The teams traded punts on the next two possessions, but Valley Center’s kick turned into a disaster when Paul returned the punt to the Jaguars’ ten yard line.
The Griffins needed only one play to score, as Paul took the handoff and scampered into the endzone to put Los Alamitos back in front 14–7 with just under eight minutes before halftime.
The Jags couldn’t get the offense going on the ensuing drive, going three and out and punting the ball out of bounds this time to keep it away from Paul. A personal foul penalty on Los Alamitos further pinned the Griffins back in their own territory at the 12 yard line.
The Griffins struggled to move the ball at first, getting stuffed on first down and coming up short of the first down on the next run. But the Jaguars gave up first downs on the next two plays via penalty, as an offside call on third and one resulted in a first down, then a questionable pass interference penalty on Aguilar as he defended a deep throw moved the ball up to the Los Alamitos 41.
The Griffins picked up another first down, but Aguilar came up with a huge play, intercepting the ball on third down and taking it all the way back out to the Valley Center 47. The outstanding play might be Aguilar’s last of the season, however, as the junior was carted off the field after injuring his right leg while being tackled. The extent of the injury has yet to be confirmed, but early indications are that Aguilar will miss a significant amount of time this season.
Riding the momentum from Aguilar’s interception, the Jags drove down the field to tie the score just before halftime. The Jaguars ran 11 plays to cover the 53 yards, converting a fourth and four in the process, and scored on a 15-yard touchdown run by Bernard with just 15 seconds left on the clock. Reilly connected with Brierre four times on the drive, including on the fourth down conversion, for a total of 29 yards.
Los Alamitos ran out the clock on the first half, then kicked to Valley Center to open the third quarter.
The Jaguars looked poised to ride the momentum of the late first half score, picking up a quick first down on the first play of the drive. But Los Alamitos came up big on defense on the next play, forcing a Bernard fumble and recovering the ball at the Valley Center 33.
Two plays later, the Griffins had the lead again, after a 33-yard touchdown pass on second down made the score 21–14 with 10:37 left in the third quarter.
Valley Center put together an impressive drive on its ensuing possession, taking the ball 67 yards down the field, but came up short on a fourth-down try from the two yard line. The Jags were aided by a Los Alamitos pass interference penalty in the endzone, which put the ball at the eight yard line, but after four plays, the Griffins held and took over at their own two.
Los Alamitos escaped from the shadow of its own goal post and got out to the 31 after two plays, but Thomas got another big stuff on the Griffin running back before Valley Center linebacker Shonta Chaloux stepped in front of a pass for the second Jaguar interception of the night. Pressure on the Los Alamitos quarterback forced him to roll to his left, and when he tried to squeeze a pass into his receiver, Chaloux swooped in, picked it off and returned it down the sideline to the Los Alamitos eight yard line.
After an incompletion on first down, the Jaguars scored to tie the game on an eight-yard touchdown run by Bernard. On the run, Bernard almost slipped, but put his hand down to regain his balance, then dove across the line for the score with 2:15 left in the third quarter.
Los Alamitos picked up a quick first down on the ensuing drive, but Thomas stuffed the ball-carrier again, then hounded the quarterback on third down to force a shovel pass that fell incomplete. The Griffins punted it out of bounds, giving the Jags the ball at their own 21.
Brierre made another catch on the drive, and Reilly picked up a first down with a quarterback sneak, but Los Alamitos made a big play with an interception and return that set the Griffins up at the Valley Center 49.
But Valley Center’s defense answered, as Reden sacked the quarterback on first down, then chased down the running back on a screen pass on third down to force another punt.
Valley Center took over at its own 14 with just under eight minutes left in the game, but needed only three plays to take its first lead of the game. The score came on a 74-yard touchdown run by Bernard, who ran off tackle, slashed through the defense and broke away down the sideline for the score.
Leading 28–21 with 6:40 left in the game, the Jaguars held strong on the ensuing possession, giving up a first down via penalty but stopping the Griffins on the next three plays to force another punt.
The Jags couldn’t take advantage of the poor punt that went out of bounds at the Los Alamitos 39, and had to punt after two short runs and an incompletion.
With time winding down, Los Alamitos opened the playbook all the way to get the game-tying score. After a quick first down at their own 19, the Griffins tossed a sweep to the running back going right, but the runner turned and tossed the ball back to the quarterback, who had slipped into the open on the left. The quarterback then heaved the ball deep for his receiver, who had gotten behind the Jaguar secondary and made the catch for an 81-yard touchdown.
With the score tied at 28 and only 2:24 remaining, the Jaguars needed a handful of clutch performances to get the lead back.
On the ensuing kickoff, Beason fielded the squib kick and took it back to the Valley Center 35. Bernard ran the ball on three consecutive plays, picking up a first down on the second carry, before Reilly connected with wideout Taylor Oshinski for a first down on an 18-yard gain. The Jags spiked the ball to stop the clock with 54 seconds left, then two runs for no gain led to a fourth down, when Los Alamitos took a time out with 42 seconds left to save time for the next possession.
Last connected on the 47-yard field goal with 37 seconds remaining, giving Valley Center a three-point lead and sending the home crowd into a frenzy.
But the game wasn’t quite over yet, as Los Alamitos pulled out one final trick from the playbook. After a touchback on the kickoff, the Griffins ran the old hook and ladder play, where the quarterback throws to a receiver down the seam, and the receiver laterals the ball back to another receiver who runs his route to sweep in behind the receiver who makes the catch, which misdirects the defense to one area, then changes the direction of the play to a player who is running full speed.
This time, the play nearly won the game for Los Alamitos, as the Griffins picked up 53 yards down to the Valley Center 27. Los Alamitos hustled up to the line and spiked the ball with 19 seconds left, leaving just enough time to try for a score.
The first pass attempt was incomplete, then a long throw down the sideline into the endzone was nearly caught, but Last hit the receiver as he tried to come down with the leaping catch, and the ball fell incomplete.
On fourth down from the 27, Los Alamitos kept the offense on the field, electing to go for the touchdown and the win. The Griffins ran the same play they had run on third down, but this time Last jumped in front of the receiver for the interception that ended the game.
“That was a great win,” Gilster said. “We had two great teams going back and forth, and we just had more points at the end. But it doesn’t mean anything unless we beat Ramona next week.”
The undefeated Jaguars take their 4–0 record on the road this Friday, as they travel to Ramona to take on the Bulldogs, who are also 4–0 after defeating Otay Ranch last week. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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