MISSION VIEJO, Calif. — A scenario that Jax Leatherwood had been preparing his entire life for finally played out on Saturday.
The Scripps Ranch quarterback had the opportunity every football player dreams of, with a chance to lead his team on a game-winning drive for the state championship, and he delivered, completing seven drives on a decisive two-minute drill to power his Falcons to a 31-28 win after Wilcox had erased a three-score deficit.
“It’s not the same as in practice, I can tell you that,” the 6-foot-6 Leatherwood said. “You can feel the pressure, but you’ve got to brush it off. We’ve trained for this, we’ve been over this, and it came down to execution.”
After a defensive holding penalty negated an interception that would have all but sealed the game, Leatherwood remained poised and completed passes to five different receivers, with the last going to Dean Paley on a screen for a 10-yard touchdown with 27 seconds left.
“We ran the same play in the section championship game, and I scored there,” said Paley, who told the coaches to run the play during the timeout that preceded the touchdown. “It’s gonna get me a guaranteed 5-10 yards, so during the timeout I went up to the coaches and said, ‘We’ve got to run this play. It’s gonna be open. Trust me. I’ve got this.’”
Paley did, in fact, have it. Lamont Wilkerson II’s interception on the first play of the ensuing drive secured the CIF 2-A Championship for Scripps Ranch (14-1).
The Falcons looked to be in complete control at halftime, leading 21-0 on the heels of four Charger turnovers, including a ball that was ruled a fumble when it looked like Luther Glenn had clearly entered the end zone before Joshua Nguyen knocked the ball out. Leatherwood connected with Conor Lawlor for a 76-yard score two plays later, the duo’s third touchdown of the half, and a Lawlor interception of a tipped pass sent Scripps Ranch into halftime up by three scores.
Undeterred, Wilcox (10-5) came out of the break looking like a team that had won nine consecutive games. Armand Johnson’s 21-yard QB keeper capped off a successful drive to open the second half, and after forcing an incompletion on 4th-and-1 at the 46, the Chargers cut the lead to 21-13 on Glenn’s 6-yard touchdown run. Glenn ran 22 times for 146 yards and a pair of scores in his final high school game.
“He’s big, strong and fast, but he’s also hard to tackle,” Wilcox head coach Paul Rosa said of the three-year starter. “He’s very slippery. You could see him galloping into the end zone on one of his touchdowns. It’s kind of a natural gift that he has.”
Leatherwood’s 26-yard completion to Xander Medina set up a 25-yard Thomas Rohrer field goal to reopen a two touchdown lead, but Wilcox fired back on just two plays, a 21-yard Glenn run and 35-yard touchdown reception on a screen pass. Johnson, who completed 11 of 23 passes for 190 yards, found Charlie Carlson for the 2-point conversion.
Scripps Ranch had to punt it back after one first down, the Chargers drove 64 yards over the next 3:20 to take their first lead of the game. Johnson hit Carlson (7 catches, 106 yards) for a 35-yard completion and scrambled for a gain of 19 before Glenn scored from a yard out for his 29th and final touchdown of his senior season.
Wilcox had all the momentum, and the Chargers appeared to have the state championship wrapped up two plays later on a Jeramiah Lewis interception. A flag thrown shortly after the interception appeared to be on the return, but was signaled to be a hold before the interception, extending the drive and giving the Falcons a first down.
“I thought the game was over on the pick,” Rosa said. “All of a sudden, it’s defensive holding in a game with hardly any flags. That’s a tough one to swallow, having that excitement and now you’re playing again.”
After an incompletion on the next play, Leatherwood went to work. He completed passes to William Miller and Paley for a first down, then found Paley to move the sticks again. Wenger was ruled out of bounds on a catch along the sideline on the following play, but he made up for it with another grab along the sideline that was ruled inbounds for a 25-yard pickup.
After short completions to Nijah Richards and Lawlor, head coach Marlon Gardinera called timeout with 31 seconds left, and after a quick consultation with Paley and his staff, called the play that will live on in Scripps Ranch lore for generations.
“That last drive showed exactly what we’re all about, heart and willpower,” said Lawlor, who had seven catches for 199 yards.
After a Reece Keahey fumble recovery, Lawlor scored on a 35-yard touchdown reception, and Dylan Stoney forced a fumble that Nick Gardinera recovered to end the following drive.
“We came out with a plan to get dirty in the trenches and cut. Linebackers had to make plays. We hadn’t seen it before, but it’s nothing we can’t stop,” said Stoney, who had 15 tackles (seven solo). “We came out more physical and came out faster. It’s great fundamental tackling and pure heart. We weren’t gonna lay down for them and let them run over us. We put the hits on them, and that’s what won us the game.”
Leatherwood and Lawlor hooked up again for a 62-yard score after a botched toss forced a Wilcox punt early in the second, and the Glenn touchdown-turned-fumble led to a third score.
“When you’re down 21-0, it’s easy to fold,” Rosa said. “Halftime in general lit a fire under us and got us restarted.”
The late drama overshadowed a first half where Scripps Ranch did what few other teams had been capable of, adapting to the speed and unique nature of Wilcox’s veer offense.
“You can’t simulate that in practice. We didn’t even try,” Marlon Gardinera said. “We just took the mental approach to understand where you’ve got to be and how fast you’ve got to be there, because I’ve never seen a team move the ball this fast. We had to get the down linemen to sacrifice their bodies, play after play. We had to get the guys to get past the monotony of a team relentlessly doing the same thing over and over.”
Wilcox managed to run for 249 yards, and the Chargers ran 70 plays to Scripps Ranch’s 47. The combination of momentum and fatigue could have been enough to decide the game, but Leatherwood and his teammates didn’t fold.
“Against a team like that, you have to punch back,” Gardinera said. “If you let them, they’ll punch you right in the mouth, and right after they hit you, they’ll run right by you.”
