Field Goal

Bryce Alderton The door stayed open, if ever so slightly for the Pacifica High Mariners' football team against the Corona del Mar Sea Kings Friday night. In what appeared to be a game CdM (6-5) had in hand, leading by a 23-14 count with 7:33 remaining turned into anything but. Curtis Gladden sent his teammates and the Pacifica faithful into a frenzy following a 40-yard field goal with 18 seconds to go, lifting the Mariners into the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division IX Playoffs with a 24-23 heart-stopping win over the Sea Kings at Bolsa Grande High.

NEWPORT BEACH — Sheer madness at the end. In a matter of seconds, Newport Harbor High won a football game, then thought it lost it, only to learn it had won it. Throughout it all, the Sailors never kicked themselves Friday night. Dana Hills did. Once. Twice. Then for a third and fourth time. The Dolphins’ kicking game failed. The Sailors held on for a 25-24 nonleague victory after Conner St. Clair’s 35-yard field-goal attempt barely missed winning it for the Dolphins with no time left at Davidson Field.

Steve Virgen COSTA MESA - The Ultimate Soccer League may have been fun for some players and a break from the norm for others. But, Natalie Franklin and the Pasadena Star Gazers played in the league for other reasons. They played for the Ultimate Cup. Franklin, who lives in Newport Beach and plays for UC Irvine, scored two goals, 14 points, to help the Star Gazers win the Ultimate Soccer League's Ultimate Cup with a 70-48 victory over the Moorpark Moon Stones in front of 485 at Orange Coast College Friday.

Newport Harbor High's freshman football team completed an undefeated season with a 38-6 victory over Woodbridge. The Sailors went 10-0, won the Sea View League and dominated yet another opponent by defeating the Warriors to close out the season last week. Newport built a 28-0 lead before halftime, as running back Jasen Ruiz scored twice. His 7-yard scamper got things started for the Sailors. Quarterback Kevin Williams threw two first-half touchdowns, one to Jarrett Daniel and the other to Ruiz.

Steve Virgen The Orange Coast College football team was left thinking "what if," as the Pirates nearly upset host Pasadena, the No. 6 team in the nation according to J.C. Grid-Wire, Saturday night. The Bucs (2-3) almost had a chance to tie the score late in the fourth quarter, but were turned away and the Lancers (5-0) won, 14-6. PCC quarterback John Rattay injured his knee on the Lancers' third offensive play and did not return. Backup Darnell LoVett, who ran for 72 yards and one TD, led his team to the win. OCC freshman kicker Bryce Sheridan nailed two field goals, a 27-yard effort in the second quarter and a 40-yard boot in the third.

Barry Faulkner COSTA MESA -- The Estancia High boys basketball team took care of its gift exchange on the court Thursday, sharing the ball like it was good will on the way to a 76-29 victory over Rancho Alamitos in the first round of the Estancia Coast Classic at Estancia High. After opening a little sluggishly, allowing the Vaqueros (0-7) to take an 11-9 lead with 2:04 left in the first period, the Eagles (9-1) scored the next 24 points and kept pouring it on until they led, 69-17 in the opening minute of the final quarter.

Barry Faulkner NEWPORT BEACH - Made field goals turned out to be tougher to come by than bleacher seats in Tuesday night's CIF Southern Section Division II-AA second-round boys basketball playoff game between Newport Harbor High and visiting Villa Park. And, in the end, it was No. 3-seeded Spartans (26-3) who won the defensive struggle, 54-41, costing the Sailors (20-7) admittance into Friday's quarterfinals. Both teams struggled to find the bottom of the net and solid defensive work on both ends did not fully explain the lack of shooting touch.

Steve Virgen WALNUT - Someone forgot to tell the Orange Coast College football team it was playing the No. 4 team in the nation. Someone forgot to tell the Pirates they got shut out last week, and that they have only scored nine points in three games this season. Someone, actually OCC Coach Mike Taylor, told his players they could beat Mt. San Antonio. He never stopped believing. The Pirates never stopped playing. And with one second remaining, Rob Pate knocked in a 33-yard field goal to shock host Mt. SAC, 26-25, Saturday night.

Barry Faulkner On the way to its fourth straight game without a second-half score, an Orange Coast College offense in need of a little self-esteem boost received its "Dailey" affirmation Saturday night. Freshman cornerback Marques Dailey returned a third-quarter interception 34 yards for a touchdown to break a 10-10 tie and provide the difference in the Pirates' 17-10 football victory over Mission Conference American Division visitor Long Beach City.

Rick Devereux Every championship team needs talent in order to succeed. It also needs a little luck from time to time. The Newport Harbor High football team has plenty of talent, but Friday night's 24-17 CIF Southern Section Division VI semifinal win over Mayfair at Cerritos College was caused by a few lucky bounces with seconds remaining. Following a Travis Duffield 28-yard field goal to tie the game for Newport with 25.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter, senior linebacker Taylor Young recovered a Mayfair fumble on the Monsoons' 30 on the subsequent offensive play.

The kicker in football is someone who doesn't always get a lot of credit. Sure, a game-winning kick is great, but more often the kicker is someone who is taken for granted at best and blamed for a team's troubles at worst. He's usually seen as somewhat eccentric, too, like the fictional Miami Dolphins kicker Ray Finkle in the movie "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. " Finkle blames Dan Marino for not keeping the laces out at the end of a fictional Super Bowl game. These things aren't true for the Corona del Mar High football team.

LONG BEACH - Whenever Jeff Brinkley has something noteworthy to say, there's someone at Newport Harbor High who jots down what comes out of the longtime coach's mouth. He predicted sophomore kicker Michael Schultz would win a game for the Sailors this year. Schultz came through in a big way for Newport Harbor in a regular-season finale with CIF Southern Section Southwest Division playoff implications. The sophomore converted a game-winning 37-yard field goal in overtime as the Sailors rallied to beat host Los Alamitos, 31-28, in a Sunset League game at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach on Thursday.

MISSION VIEJO - On one swing of the Corona del Mar High kicker's leg before halftime, the momentum swung the other way. A 52-yard field-goal try by Grif Amies resulted in a 52-yard special teams return for a touchdown at the end of the first half. The finish to the first half at Capistrano Valley was bizarre. What looked like a potential go-ahead scoring drive by the Sea Kings to close the half wound up with the Cougars taking the lead instead. They never looked back after returning a blocked field-goal attempt for a touchdown.

IRVINE   -  Forgive Russell Turner for perhaps emptying the bench a little too soon Saturday night. But the second-year UC Irvine men's basketball coach is not exactly accustomed to lopsided victories. Victory in general had been fleeting this season for the Anteaters, who earned their first triumph in seven games a 99-79 home thrashing of the University of San Diego. The biggest margin of victory over a Division I opponent during Turner's tenure could have been worse, had the Toreros (4-3)

IRVINE - You have to go all the way back 22 years for the last time Corona del Mar High stood at 6-1. That same year, in the following football game, the Sea Kings lost. The Sea Kings almost experienced the same fate Thursday night. They didn't let history repeat itself. Oh, did they come close to getting upset. The top-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division survived, coming from behind to beat Woodbridge, 31-30, and remain undefeated in Pacific Coast League play.

COSTA MESA - The Orange Coast College football team could justifiably blame the officials for coming up just short on its final possession of the first half of Saturday's nonconference game against visiting Grossmont. But when it comes to blame for a scoreless second half that turned a three-point lead into a 38-17 loss, the reasons get far less convenient. The Pirates (1-3) could point to a suddenly listless offense that earned just 136 yards after intermission. They might also cite a porous run defense that made it appear that the Griffins, not the Pirates, were the top rushing team in Southern California.

BUENA PARK - Estancia High junior kicker Dan Cabrera had never made a field goal in a varsity football game. Late in Friday night's contest the Eagles needed Cabrera, who kicked on junior varsity last year. He said he was confident he could come through. In Cabrera's head, the 36-yard field goal has never in question. Cabrera transferred his thoughts to the field. He easily nailed the field goal with 55 seconds left in the fourth quarter, lifting Estancia to a 17-14 victory at Buena Park.

NEWPORT BEACH — Preston Risser intercepted the football game's first pass and he had a chance to pick off the last one Friday night. The linebacker did not intercept the final pass, but he did the second best thing for Corona del Mar High and he saved the Sea Kings. With 21 seconds left to play, Risser deflected a pass on fourth-and-four inside the Sea Kings' 10, allowing CdM to hold on and upset Huntington Beach, 16-10, Friday night. Risser and the rest of the Sea Kings stormed onto the field at Newport Harbor High after CdM ran out the clock.

NEWPORT COAST — It was hard to decide what was the most unbelievable in the crazy turn of events that gave the Sage Hill School football team a come-from-behind, 33-31 victory over Tri-City Christian on Friday night at home. But Sage Hill will take it after winning the wild nonleague game when senior Taylor Ross nailed a 28-yard field goal with just two seconds left in regulation. It capped the Lightning (2-0) recovering two onside kicks and scoring 17 points in the final three minutes of the game.

GARDEN GROVE — The game-winning 28-yard field goal by Estancia High junior John Diego sailed cleanly between the uprights with 33 seconds left at Bolsa Grande High Friday night. It might have been fitting, though, had it caromed off a portion of the goal post and gone through, since the Eagles’ 16-13 come-from-behind nonleague victory was a continual display of the ability to rebound. “Our guys persevered,” Estancia Coach Mike Bargas said after his team twice overcame deficits and a forgettable first half to even its record at 1-1. “It was a big gut check for us early in the season and to come back is something we should be excited about ... This was big. This could be something for us to build off of the rest of the season, coming back from the Trabuco [Hills]