FOOTBALL: Birmingham wins, advances to quarterfinals

It was a bittersweet night for Arleta's De'Jon Coleman in a City Section Div. I first round playoff game at Birmingham.

Coleman set the single-season record for most touchdowns, but Birmingham scored a late touchdown for a 21-18 victory and advances to the quarterfinals next Friday at No. 3 Dorsey.

It looked like it was going to be an extra special night for Coleman and Arleta after the slippery tailback scored from nine yards out with 11:19 remaining to give Arleta an 18-14 lead.

However, with 5:53 remaining, Trae Smith engineered a 10-play, 72-yard drive, culminating with his 3-yard quarterback sneak and only left the Mustangs (9-2) 76 seconds on the clock.

"The whole drive I was just trying to get my team a win," Smith said. "The offensive line really stepped up tonight and did a great job. I kept confidence in my team."

Birmingham was lucky to get the ball back for the winning drive.

Isaiah Hastings fumbled at the Arleta 38-yard line with 7:55 remaining, and the way the Mustangs were moving the ball, it looked bleak.

Arleta had run 52 plays to only 26 for Birmingham.

The Mustangs dominated time of possession.

"When we fumbled, I was like 'oh no'," coach Jim Rose said. "I wasn't sure we would get it back the way they were moving the ball all night. But, we stpped them when we had to."

Birmingham finally came up with it's first three-and-out, holding Coleman to eight yards and dropping Mark Lemos for a 2-yard loss.

Smith came up huge on the ensuing drive with completions of 12-yards to Patrick Zamora and 16-yards to Bobby Baker.

"I had to come through in that moment," Smith said.

Coleman finished with 156 yards on 27 carries and threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Lemos on a trick-play in the second quarter.

Coleman set a prestigious record but his season is over three wins short of winning a championship.

"I mainly feel proud of myself but the season was cut short," Coleman said. "I accomplished a big-goal. We played our hearts out. I am satisfied. I ran the ball hard and kept my team alive. We just couldn't make a few plays at the end."

Rose was satisfied with Birmingham's job on defending Coleman.

"He got his yards but he didn't get four or five touchdowns," Rose said. "The plan was not give up the big one. We saw him go 80-yards untouched on film so many times."

Smith came through late with his touchdown but came through early with his arm.

He threw touchdown passes of 28 and 35 yards to Marcus Harris and Detreon Day, respectively. Smith finished 8 of 11 for 115 yards.

Hastings gained 116 yards on 14 carries.

Harris had four receptions for 50 yards.

The Patriots (9-2) finally got a playoff win for Rose, after two seasons of winless postseasons.

"The turkey will taste that much sweeter next week," Rose said. "It's great to be playing football after Thanksgiving."