by Steve Fryer
OCVarsity.com
Photo credit: Paul Rodriguez
NORWALK — Eighteen years ago, Servite scored one of the bigger upsets of the 2005 football season when it beat Long Beach Poly in the CIF Southern Section quarterfinals.
The Friars did it again Friday.
Servite defeated Poly 27-20 in overtime at Cerritos College in the CIF-SS Division 2 quarterfinals.
Long Beach Poly (10-2) had lost only one game going into Friday. That was to Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas, the No. 1 team in many of the national rankings.
Servite (7-5) will play at Serra in the semifinals Friday, Nov. 17. Serra defeated Los Alamitos 38-28 in their quarterfinal game Friday.
The Friars, who were 1-9 last season, had a chance to win it in regulation. Running back Gavin Gutierrez scored on a 4-yard run with 1:24 remaining in the game. The point-after kick attempt was never actually attempted; the center-to-holder exchange went awry and with Poly players pounced on the loose ball.
Long Beach Poly drove quickly to the Servite 25, where a 37-yard field goal attempt on regulation’s final snap was wide left, so the game went into overtime.
Servite junior running back Quaid Carr scored on an 18-yard run and the point-after kick was good this time for a 27-20 lead.
Long Beach Poly’s following possession ended with quarterback Darius Curry in shotgun formation and unable to grasp a high snap. Servite’s Brando MosQueda recovered the loose ball to secure the Friars’ victory.
“We’ve been getting doubted all year because we came off that 1-9 season,” Carr said. “But this game we really them what we are. We’re making a run for the championship and we want a ring.”
Servite lost to JSerra 49-0 in the final week of the regular season. The Friars bounced back to beat Valencia of Valencia 48-24 in a Division 2 first-round game. They trailed 20-14 at halftime against Poly.
“We turned a corner last week,” said Servite first-year coach Chris Reinert. “The way guys flew around, the way the they played, the way we tackled. And they came out here in the second half tonight, and that’s the way it’s supposed to look like.”
Carr finished with 100 rushing yards on 16 carries. Junior quarterback Leo Hannon rushed for 42 yards in the second half, including a couple of clutch first-down runs. Justin De La Rosa and Jaden Welch made interceptions for the Friars, and Tommy Cernius and De La Rosa contributed sacks.
Curry threw three touchdown passes in the first half. The first one was for 57 yards to Kamarie Smith for a 7-0 lead. Ethan Naudin tied it on a 2-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. Gutierrez scored on a 2-yard run for a 14-7 Servite lead in the first quarter.
Smith’s second touchdown catch on a 29-yard pass play followed. But the point-after kick attempt hit the right upright. What would turn out to be a crucial miss left Servite with a 14-13 lead. Curry’s third touchdown pass, 21 yards to Jordan Malau’ulu created the 20-14 halftime lead for the Jackrabbits who finished 10-2.
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