La Serna Earns Second Consecutive Semi-Final Berth

By Tony Solorzano

(Hacienda Heights) – A last-second fumble by quarterback Shane Virnala ended Los Altos’ season as La Serna held on for a 42-38 victory Friday night at Patrick J. Mauch Memorial Stadium to advance to the CIF Southern Section Southeast Division semi-finals.

The Conquerors (8-4) had the ball on the six-yard line of the Lancers (9-3) when Virnala was hit and fumbled the ball. Running back Justin Fa’aola picked up the loose ball but was also hit and lost control of the ball, which ended up in the hands of sophomore linebacker Gabriel Perez, who caught the ball in mid-air and started running the ball back as time expired.

“It was one of those plays where anything could happen,” said head coach Margarito Beltran. “We were very blessed with the win tonight.”

The Conquerors came out early and set an early tone as Virnala hit receiver Ricky Blair hauled in a pass for a 63-yard touchdown. Blair would score again five minutes later, this time from 15 yards out, but Juan Sanchez’ point after attempt failed, giving the Conquerors an early 13-0 lead.

Palmer would close out the scoring in the quarter with 29.3 seconds left as he called his own number from seven yards out and scored the first of his three touchdowns on the ground, cutting the Conqueror lead to 13-7.

In the second, Fa’aola increased the lead with a score from a yard out with 8:23 left in the half. Palmer would score again, this time with 1:30 left in the half, with a five-yard run. Sanchez would make up for the missed PAT with a 27-yard field goal at the end of the half, giving the Conquerors a 23-14 lead.

In the third, the schools exchanged touchdowns within four minutes of each other. Nicholas McCarty closed the gap to 23-21 with a score from five yards out, but Fa’aola would score again with three minutes left on a two-yard run, but the Lancers were about to blow the game wide open as the fourth quarter started.

At the start of the fourth, the Lancers were driving the ball into Conqueror territory, with Palmer rushing for eight yards to the Los Altos 37 as the third quarter ended. On the first play of the fourth, McCarty took a hand off from Palmer and rushed for 24 yards to the Los Altos 13. On the next play, O.J. Medina, who had seen limited carries earlier in the came, broke out for the 13-yard score, cutting the score to 30-28, with only 25 seconds elapsed in the fourth.

The Lancers would take the lead on their next score, a 29-yard pass from Palmer to Justin Ballesteros with 6:04 left in the game, giving the Lancers a 35-30 lead. Virnala would put the Conquerors back on top just under four minutes later, with his third scoring pass to Blair, this time from 20 yards out with 2:20 left, and then hit Joey Franco with a short pass for the two-point conversion, giving Los Alto a 38-35 lead.

After getting the ball to mid-field on Medina’s kickoff return, Palmer spent the next 1:07 moving the ball 52 yards and culminating in Palmer’s five-yard rush to the right corner for the go-ahead score.

But Virnala wasn’t finished yet, as he started tossing strike after strike to Blair and Eric Toribio, moving the ball into Lancer territory. Medina made a near-fatal mistake while defending Blair on a third-and-four pass attempt, getting flagged for Pass Interference and giving the Conquerors a new set of downs with 21 seconds left in the game. Virnala hit Christian Palacios with eight seconds left for a 13-yard gain, putting the ball on the La Serna six with four seconds left, setting up the fateful play that ended the Conquerors’ season.

La Serna now heads home to host Muir in one semi-final match up with the winner advancing to the Finals against the winner of the West Covina-La Mirada semi-final.

SCORING SUMMARY

La Serna 7 772142

Los Altos13107 838

SCORES

1st Quarter

10:41 – LA – Ricky Blair 63 pass from Shane Virnala Juan Sanchez kick

5:16 – LA – Blair 15 pass from Virnala kick failed

29.3 – LS – Frankie Palmer 7 run Tavis Guerra kick

2nd Quarter

8:23 – LA – Justin Fa’aola 1 run Sanchez kick

1:30 – LS – Palmer 5 run Guerra kick

00.0 – LA – Sanchez 27 field goal

3rd quarter

7:04 – LS – Nicholas McCarty 3 run Guerra kick

3:00 – LA – Fa’aola 2 run Sanchez kick

4th quarter

11:35 – LS – O.J. Medina 13 run Guerra kick

6:04 – LS – Justin Ballesteros 29 pass from Palmer Guerra kick

2:20 – LA – Blair 20 pass from Virnala Joey Franco pass

1:06 – LS – Palmer 5 run Guerra kick