It took a wild fourth quarter that came down to the final
six seconds, but when the dust settled on Friday night’s season-opening
football game between Valley Center and Mar Vista, the Jaguars escaped with a
34–33 win.
The game was tied at 14 at halftime, but in the final 3:34 of the fourth quarter, each team scored
two touchdowns, the final score coming with 6.4 seconds left on the clock.
The Mariners had taken a 21–20 lead late in the third
quarter thanks to a blocked extra point earlier in the period and a big play on
the ground that went 71 yards for a touchdown.
But after forcing a Mar Vista punt
late in the fourth quarter, the Jaguars got the lead back on a 59-yard
touchdown run by Brad Dozier. The two-point conversion pass fell incomplete,
however, leaving VC with a 26–21 lead.
Mar Vista responded with a touchdown drive and a failed
two-point conversion of its own, giving the Mariners a 27–26 lead with 1:35 left on the clock.
Valley Center
had a chance to drive down the field with all three timeouts, but on the second
play of the series, quarterback Daniel DeLeon’s pass was intercepted and
returned to the Jags’ one-yard line.
Instead of trying to run down the clock and force Valley
Center to use its timeouts, the
Mariners ran a quarterback sneak on first down and scored immediately to take a
seven-point lead. They did the safe thing and tried to kick the extra point,
but the Jaguars blocked it to keep the deficit at seven with 1:09 left in the game.
Seven plays and exactly 1:03
later, the Jaguars scored to pull within one.
The drive took a turn for the crazy when Jared Gilster took
a pass on third down and turned upfield. He was hit from behind and lost the
football, and the Mariners appeared to recover. But his helmet was knocked off
while the ball was still loose, and the referees correctly signaled a stop in
play due to rules designed for player safety. The ball stayed with Valley
Center with 24 seconds left in the
game.
Two plays later, taking a snap at the Mar Vista seven-yard
line with 12 seconds on the clock, DeLeon looked for an open receiver but
couldn’t find one, so he tucked the ball down and ran for the goal line, diving
across for the score.
Head coach Rob Gilster immediately called for the offense to
stay on the field for the two-point conversion, and called the same play from
the previous attempt that fell incomplete. This time, DeLeon fired a strike to
Josh Lucas for the score and the lead.
The Jags kicked off and Mar Vista had one final play for a
desperation play, but Garrett Castner broke through the line and sacked the
quarterback to end the game.
Here are the video highlights from the game.
Video by Dan Kidder
The Mariners fumble the snap and the Jaguar defense is there
to drop the QB for a big loss.
The Mariners scored first, but the Jaguars answered right
back with this 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Anthony Ricks.
Brad Dozier reads the play and nearly has an interception.
The Mariners can't convert on this 32-yard field goal.
Daniel DeLeon throws a perfect bomb to Luke Konyn for a
62-yard touchdown.
Jake Newman nearly picks off this Mar Vista pass.
The Jaguars set sail for victory as they crash through the
banner before the start of the second half.
DeLeon throws a quick slant to Ricks, who makes the grab for
a nine-yard touchdown.
The Mariners fumble the handoff exchange and Derikie
Blaze-Logan gets the loose ball for the Jaguars.
Dozier has the ball stripped on this run, but DeLeon dives
into the pile to recover the fumble.
Ricks lays out to make this catch.
The Mariners try to complete a WR pass, but John Cabrera
knocks the ball away from the intended receiver.
Dozier takes the handoff, cuts back and outruns the defense
for a go-ahead 59-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The Mariners try to get the QB free on a rollout, but the VC
defense gangs up to bring him down.
The Mariners scored a go-ahead touchdown late in the game
and tried to go for the two-point conversion, but the run came up just short.
Jared Gilster makes a big catch for a first down and fights
for additional yardage, but the ball comes free. The play is whistled dead
before any recovery can be made, however, because Gilster's helmet came off
during the play. By rule, the play is blown dead as soon as any player's helmet
comes off, due to safety concerns.
With time running out and his team trailing by seven, DeLeon
scrambles into the endzone for what proved to be the game-winning score in the
season opener.
DeLeon fires a quick pass to Josh Lucas for the two-point
conversion that gave the Jaguars a one-point win over the Mariners in the
season opener.
With only 1.6 seconds left, the Mariners have one final
play, but VC's Garrett Castner breaks through for the sack to end the game.
