Here are the final scores and recaps.
CIF-Southern Section Playoffs
Second Round
Mid-Valley Division
Whittier Christian 28, Covina 17 FINAL
WHITTIER — After being held in check most of the game, Whittier Christian High School’s offense came alive when it needed to most.
The host Heralds came through with a 14-point fourth quarter that lifted them to a 28-17 victory over Covina in Friday’s CIF-Southern Section Mid-Valley Division second-round playoff game at Whittier College.
Whittier Christian advanced to Friday’s semifinals against either Village Christian or Rosemead.
Trailing 17-14 after Covina’s Randy Robledo made a 38-yard field goal, the Olympic League champion Heralds (11-1) took the lead on Grant Escobar’s 5-yard scoring run.
Escobar’s touchdown, which came with 4:46 remaining in the fourth quarter, capped a 10-play, 68-yard drive. The key play was Escobar’s 29-yard run that put the Heralds on Covina’s 29-yard line.
The Heralds defense then came up big, forcing a Colts punt.
Whittier Christian’s offense secured the victory with Stephen Anderson’s 3-yard scoring pass to Rudy Robles, which came with 54 seconds left in the game.
Anderson, who threw for three touchdowns, put the Heralds ahead 7-0 with a 3-yard scoring pass to Cody Bronkar with 1:05 remaining in the opening quarter.
Valle Vista League champion Covina (10-2) quickly responded with a game-tying score that came on Billy Livingston’s 57-yard scoring pass to Gevontray Ainsworth, who took a screen pass and went the distance. Ainsworth’s score came
Monrovia 21, Schurr 7 FINAL
MONROVIA — Despite putting up good passing yardage against Monrovia, Schurr quarterback Aaron Cantu completed 22 of 35 for 227 yards, but his efforts weren’t enough as the Spartans fell to Monrovia 21-7 in the second round of the CIF-Southern Section Mid-Valley Division playoffs on Friday night.
The Spartans’ only touchdown came with 2:45 left in the game on a 3-yard pass from Cantu to reception by wide receiver Chris Chiaromonte.
Schurr running back Abraham Gonzalez rushed for 38 yards but was injured on the sideline with five minutes left in the third quarter. He was taken away by ambulance after a game delay.
Monrovia quarterback Nick Bueno focused on his running game and totaled 94 rushing yards, including a 24-yard scoring run in the third quarter but he threw for only 33 yards.
The Wildcats’ other two scores came off of a first quarter 25-yard run by full back Christian Blanco and a 12-yard interception return by defensive back Andrew Plasencia in the fourth quarter.
Kicker Mason Bryant booted in all three point-after attempts.
The Spartans end their season with a 7-5 overall record and a 4-1 league mark while Monrovia moves on with a 10-2 overall record to the division semifinals against San Dimas, which beat Maranatha 56-20 on Friday night.
Northwest Division
Lompoc 41, Cantwell Sacred Heart 7 FINAL
LOMPOC — Lompoc High School, displaying an unstoppable offense and a stifling defense, downed visiting Cantwell Sacred Heart 41-7 in a CIF-Southern Section Northwest Division second-round playoff game Friday night.
The Cardinals scored their only touchdown on the first possession of the second half.
Jonathan Mesa broke off a 57-yard run to the Lompoc 1-yard line, from where James Becerra scored to pull Cantwell (10-2) within 28-7.
Lompoc’s next drive was stopped when Cardinals linebacker Zeke Flores recovered a fumble at the Cantwell 22.
After gaining one first down, the Cardinals lost the ball on downs when Lompoc’s Tyler Dutton made a tackle to prevent a first down.
One play later,On Lompoc’s next possession, Jordan Collins scored on a 40-yard run to boost the lead to 34-7.
The Los Padres League champion Braves (9-3) concluded the scoring early in the fourth quarter on a 5-yard run by Willie Iribarren to complete a 42-yard drive set up by Marcel Blow’s second interception.
Lompoc jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter.
On the game’s first series and after Blow’s 30-yard kickoff return, the Braves took a 7-0 lead when a 53-yard drive was capped by a 26-yard touchdown pass from Abie Luna to Jordan Collins.
After forcing Cantwell to punt, Lompoc began its next series with a 37-yard pass from Luna to Evan Aguilar before Lavon Coleman upped the margin to 14-0 with a 5-yard run two plays later.
On the ensuing kickoff, Cantwell’s Mesa returned it 35 yards only to have the Cardinals punt after three plays netted no gain.
Blow returned the punt 65 yards for the Braves’ third touchdown of the quarter.
Cantwell then used the next nine minutes to drive 61 yards in 17 plays after a 20-yard kickoff return by Mesa. However, the drive ended when Blow intercepted a pass at the Lompoc 1-yard line. During this drive, Mesa gained 46 yards on 10 carries.
Late in the second quarter, Luna intercepted a pass at midfield.
Six plays later, Blow ran 2 yards to give the Braves a 28-0 halftime lead.
The Cardinals’ Corey Collins returned the subsequent kickoff 50 yards, but time expired before Cantwell could manifest a scoring threat.
Southeast Division
La Serna 28, Norwalk 21 FINAL
NORWALK — La Serna High School, behind Richard Alvarez’s three first-half touchdowns, defeated Norwalk 28-21 in the second round of the CIF- Southern Section Southeast Division playoffs Friday night.
Second-seeded La Serna (11-1) advanced to the semifinals, where the Lancers will face either Muir or Bonita.
Alvarez, who gained 35 yards on 10 carries, scored his touchdowns on runs of 3, 10 and 2 yards to propel La Serna to a 21-7 halftime lead.
La Serna, leading 21-14 in the third quarter, faced a fourth and 19, none of which seemed but it didn’t seem to faze quarterback Andrew Buenrostro.
He calmly connected with receiver Andrew Rosales for the a 27-yard scoring pass that gave La Serna a 28-14 lead with 2:03 left in the quarter.
Buenrostro finished with seven of fourteen 7 completions in 14 attempts for 142 yards and a touchdown.
For Norwalk (7-5), the Suburban League’s No. 3 team, Elijhaa Penny had 19 carries for 87 yards and two touchdowns.
West Covina 47, Santa Fe 7 FINAL
WEST COVINA — Santa Fe High School, at least from a statistical standpoint, held its own against top seed West Covina on Friday night.
But turnovers were quite another matter.
The host Bulldogs forced four fumbles, all which led to scores, and West Covina cruised to a 47-7 victory over Santa Fe in a CIF-Southern Section Southeast Division quarterfinal game.
Chris Solomon scored four touchdowns, two on fumble returns, to lead West Covina, which improved to 11-1 and will play at either Mayfair or Burbank Burroughs in next week’s semifinals.
Santa Fe, which received 111 yards passing from Justin Rincon, finished 7-5.
Santa Fe, which was outgained just 171-154 in the first half, held its own early on. But three fumbles, which led to three West Covina touchdowns, cost the Chiefs dearly.
The first gave West Covina a 7-0 lead and came after the Chiefs set themselves up to take the early lead getting the ball at the Bulldogs’ 19 after a blocked punt.
But Christian Mahlstede fumbled on a run up the middle to the 14.
Solomon picked it up and returned the bal back 86 yards for a 7-0 lead with 5:28 left in the opening quarter.
The Chiefs then handed the Bulldogs another score two possessions later, when a second fumble was recovered by West Covina on Santa Fe’s 10.
Two runs by Solomon put the ball at the 1-yard line before quarterback George Johnson scored for a 14-0 lead with 55 seconds left in the quarter.
The Chiefs refused to give in and drove 58 yards to make it 14-7 on a 1-yard run by Alex Mirola with 9:40 left in the first half.
Santa Fe then looked like it might tie after stopping the Bulldogs on its own 32 and then driving to West Covina’s 19 before Pete Reveles dropped a hand, which the Bulldogs recovered.
Solomon had runs of 16 and 10 yards to the Santa Fe 33 before Johnson passed 27 yards to Bradley Ojala to the 6. Solomon then scored from the 4 to push the lead to 21-7 with 3:29 left in the second quarter.
Rigo Castillo kicked a 35-yard field goal on the last play of the half to make it 24-7.
Santa Fe’s turnover woes continued in the second quarter. The Chiefs forced a punt and got a first down at the 50. But Mahlstede fumbled on a keeper. Soloman scooped it up and returned the ball 50 yards to make it 31-7 with 7:40 left in the third quarter.
Johnson, after West Covina forced a punt, then put the issue to rest by running 35 yards to make it 38-7 with 4:06 left in the quarter.
Southwest Division
La Habra 42, Cypress 13 FINAL
ANAHEIM — For 12 minutes, the Cypress High School football team kept two-time defending CIF-Southern Section Southwest Division champion La Habra dormant.
Then, thanks to six turnovers, the No. 3-seeded Highlanders stormed past Cypress 48-13 at Handel Stadium in Friday night’s divisional second-round game
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With the victory, the Daily News’ top-ranked Highlanders (9-3) advances to next Saturday’s divisional semifinal as the road team against Sonora, a 27-20 winner over No. 2-seeded Laguna Hills on Friday.
The visiting Highlanders responded to being shut out in the first quarter by taking a 28-7 halftime lead.
Senior safety Will Peppard was the Highlanders’ catalyst by intercepting two passes and causing a fumble in the second quarter.
The Centurions (10-2), trailing 21-7, took over at their 18 with 4:32 left before halftime and drove to the La Habra 38.
With less than a minute left, Cypress quarterback Chris Austin’s pass to Jake Brito at the 30 was intercepted by Peppard and returned to the Centurions’ 41 with 45 seconds left.
Three plays later, quarterback Cody Clements (8 for 12 for 134 yards and four touchdowns) found receiver Jake Neely for a 53-yard touchdown that put the Highlanders ahead 28-7 following Sean Wale’s extra point.
Peppard had his hand in the previous Highlanders score when he stripped Austin with 6:51 left in the first half and the ball was recovered by cornerback Michael Sparling at the 30.
Four runs by Drake Griffin (16 carries for 114 yards and two touchdowns), including a 5-yard touchdown, put La Habra up 21-7 with 4:38 left in the second quarter.
Clements opened the scoring at 11:54 in the second on a 7-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jordan Salo off play-action.
The Highlanders started their drive on the Centurions’ 29 after senior defensive end Ben Sowma took the ball out of Austin’s grasp.
After the score, the Highlanders quickly scored another touchdown when Peppard intercepted a pass by backup quarterback Joseph Anderson and returned the ball 25 yards for a touchdown with 10:31 left in the second quarter.
Unfortunately for Cypress, there was no reprieve in the second half.
Highlanders cornerback Vai Peko intercepted Austin’s first pass of the third quarter and returned the ball to the Cypress 9.
The interception was cashed in three plays later when Clements hit Salo for his second
of three touchdowns that put La Habra up 35-7.
Clements and Salo (three catches for 63 yards and three touchdowns) connected for a 50-yard touchdown on La Habra’s next offensive possession and Griffin scored the last touchdown on a 10-yard run with 9:48 in the fourth quarter.
Sparling had one of the game’s most acrobatic plays as he intercepted Austin despite having his knees taken out by receiver Victor Vasquez with 2:16 in the third.
La Habra linebackers Jordan Kessen (eight tackles) and Aaron Porter (seven tackles, including one for a loss) led the defense. Sowma finished with six tackles.
Cypress’ two scores came on a 43-yard pass play from Austin to Casey Eyman in the second quarter and a Vincent Rivera 2-yard touchdown run in the third.
