LA CANADA — The defense for Murrieta Mesa has been carrying the team all season, so it was fitting it would have to make a stand to earn a spot in the CIF-Southern Section Division 6 championship game.
The Rams fended off St. Francis’ surging offense on the final drive and secured a 31-28 victory when the Knights missed a potential game-tying field goal with 28 seconds left in the semifinals on Friday night.
Murrieta Mesa (9-4) will play Glendora next week in the championship at Citrus College. The Tartans defeated Dana Hills 25-21 in the other semifinal.
This will be the first CIF-SS football championship game appearance in school history for Murrieta Mesa. The team made it to the Division 6 semifinals last year but lost to Mira Costa.
“I said to my defensive coordinator toward the end of the game to take us home,” said Murrieta Mesa coach Oscar McBride. “And that’s what they did.”
The Rams punted from their own 8 with 2:24 left in the game and gave St. Francis (5-8) the ball at its own 47 with three timeouts remaining.
St. Francis faced a second-and-15 after a holding call on first down. Quarterback John Sanders found Mason Maddox for a 24-yard reception that gave St. Francis the ball at the Murrieta Mesa 34. The two connected on the next play for a 15-yard gain.
The Golden Knights had momentum with 55 seconds left but a pass to Isaac Fajardo was stuffed for a 2-yard loss. The Rams then forced two straight incompletions to bring up fourth-and-12 with 33 seconds left.
Golden Knights kicker Shawn Sanders trotted onto the field for a 38-yard attempt to try to force overtime. Murrieta Mesa called a timeout to freeze him.
Sanders lined up to kick again but it was wide.
The Rams then got the ball back and took a knee to seal the victory.
The Rams defense forced three turnovers that were converted into 14 points.
They took a 17-14 lead in the second quarter after Stephen Stiles recovered a Sanders fumble following a missed handoff exchange at the St. Francis 14. Rams quarterback Trey Gamble kept the ball two plays later for a 19-yard touchdown run.
Murrieta Mesa trailed 21-17 early in the quarter when Sanders was hit while throwing. The refs ruled it a fumble which was picked up by Daniel Ritchie who returned it 55 yards for a touchdown.
That was Ritchie’s second touchdown. He scored on a two-yard run early in the second quarter to cut the St. Francis lead to 14-10.
St. Francis took a 28-24 lead in the third quarter with an impressive 15-play, 76-yard drive. It ended when Julian Navarro snuck out of the backfield to catch a three-yard touchdown pass from Sanders on third-and-goal.
Murrieta Mesa scored the game-winning touchdown with no time left in the third when Gamble threw a strike over the middle to Kian Hendricks for a 33-yard touchdown pass.
St. Francis was led by John Sanders. He completed 24 of 36 passes for 366 yards and four touchdowns.
Maddox caught six passes for 109 yards and one touchdown. JT Martin caught five passes for 88 yards. Deveon Blaylock caught four passes for 58 yards including a nifty 40-yard touchdown on the game’s opening drive.
St Francis coach Dean Herrington said it was a tough game to lose, especially since his team had won five of six games after starting 0-6. But he’s optimistic about the future with a number of sophomores, including Blaylock, coming back next season.
Shawn Sanders is set to take over the quarterback duties.
