San Diego High School Football Playoffs : Field Goal by Alvarez Lifts Mt. Miguel Over San Dieguito

SPRING VALLEY —  Mount Miguel kicker Jesus Alvarez couldn’t bear to watch, and so he turned his back on a 40-yard field-goal attempt with 24 seconds to play against San Dieguito Saturday night.

What he missed seeing he did not miss.

The field goal gave Mount Miguel (8-3) a 17-14 victory over visiting San Dieguito (9-3) and put the Matadors in the San Diego Section 3-A semifinals against Fallbrook Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Mira Mesa High School.

“I was scared,” said Alvarez, a junior whose longest field goal before last night was 33 yards. “I didn’t look. I just turned around and walked. The screams told me I made it.”

Alvarez’s kick ended a defensive struggle that featured eight turnovers, including five by San Dieguito.

Mount Miguel scored all its points after turnovers by San Dieguito, including a pass interception by Adam Wilson at the Mustang 41 with 2:40 left to set up Alvarez’s field goal.

Mount Miguel scored its first touchdown after the first of three fumble recoveries by Erik Stottlemyer. Four plays later, running back Charlie Ray scored to give Mount Miguel a 7-0 lead in the first period.

San Dieguito tied the game on its next series with a two-yard run by Mark Horowitz, who led all rushers with 60 yards on 16 carries.

With the score tied 7-7 in the third quarter, Mount Miguel quarterback Anthony Rivera threw what appeared to be an incomplete pass through the hands of receiver Earl Benson. However, the referee ruled that Benson had caught the ball and then fumbled. An alert Horowitz picked up the ball and ran 32 yards for a touchdown.

With San Dieguito leading 14-7, Mount Miguel twice moved deep into Mustang territory, but come away with no points. Mount Miguel moved to the San Dieguito nine with 16 seconds left in the third period but the Mustang defense held.

Mount Miguel moved to the San Dieguito 11 on its next series, but again lost the ball on downs.

Finally, Mount Miguel mounted a scoring drive set up by Stottlemyer’s third fumble recovery. With 3:12 left in the game, Ray scored from the one to cap a seven-play drive and Alvarez’s kick made it 14-14.

On its next series, San Dieguito quarterback Brett Ward had a pass intercepted by Wilson at the 41 to set up the drive to Alvarez’s game-winning field goal.

Ward was 5-of-13 passing for 59 yards and two interceptions. Anthony Rivera led Mount Miguel with 50 yards rushing on 11 carries and 7 completions in 19 attempts for 86 yards and one interception.

3-A: Vista 49, Montgomery 7

VISTA

Quarterback Bill Faraimo rushed for three touchdowns and wingback Marc Jones ran for two to lead the top-ranked Panthers past Montgomery. Vista, the winner of 24 straight games, will meet Granite Hills in a 3-A semifinal game Friday at Mesa College or Mira Mesa High.

Montgomery (8-3-1) scored first on a two-yard run by Kevin Crawford early in the first quarter.

Vista then took control and improved its record to 11-0.

Faraimo scored the Panthers’ first touchdown on a one-yard run, tying the game, 7-7, at the end of the first quarter.

Vista took a 21-7 halftime lead thanks to a 25-yard touchdown run by Jones and a 34-yard scoring run by Faraimo, both in the second quarter.

Faraimo scored his third touchdown on a two-yard run early in the third quarter to give Vista 28-7 lead. Tommy Booker, who rushed 20 times for 150 yards, made it 35-7 with a three-yard run later in the period.

Vista’s final two scores came in the fourth quarter, one a 25-yard scoring run by Jones and the other a two-yard run by fullback David Strojny.

The Vista-Granite Hills game Friday will be a rematch of a 3-A semifinal last year, won by Vista, 43-9.

2-A: Lincoln 32, El Camino 12

Central League champion Lincoln (10-1) will play Grossmont (7-3-1) in the semifinals Saturday night at Mesa College.

El Camino, a 33-3 winner over University of San Diego High School last week, finished 5-7.

2-A: La Jolla 14, Crawford 12

SAN DIEGO La Jolla’s defense stopped Eugene Ethridge one foot from the goal line on a two-point conversion try with three minutes remaining to preserve the Vikings’ victory over Crawford at Mesa College.

La Jolla (9-2) will meet Oceanside in a 2-A semifinal game Friday night at Vista High. Crawford, the defending 2-A runner-up, finished 6-5.

La Jolla, which won a share of the City Western League championship, took a 14-6 lead late in the fourth quarter on a nine-yard touchdown run by Jerry Walker.

However, Crawford’s Brian Jones returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a score to cut the Vikings’ lead to 14-12. Ethridge ran up the middle on the try for two-points but was stopped.

Crawford attempted to get the ball back on an onside kick but La Jolla recovered and ran out the clock.

La Jolla took a 7-0 lead with one minute remaining in the first half on an 11-yard scoring pass from quarterback Doug Powell to Jeff Raulston. Crawford pulled within 7-6 in the third quarter on a two-yard run by Ethridge. However, the extra-point kick was blocked by Brad Raulston and La Jolla maintained the lead.