Advertisement

Prep Rally: It’s a Christmas miracle for high school football game endings

Devyn Jackson (left) celebrates with Antrell Harris after scoring on a miracle 52-yard touchdown catch
Devyn Jackson (left) celebrates with Antrell Harris after scoring on a miracle 52-yard touchdown catch on the game’s final play for a 30-28 Birmingham victory.
(Craig Weston)

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. On Friday and Saturday in high school football, I witnessed something I’ve never experienced since becoming a sportswriter in 1976 — back-to-back miracle football endings. Let’s go inside the miracle in San Diego that propelled City Section Open Division champion Birmingham into playing for a state Division 3-AA championship and St. Bonaventure into the Division 1-A final.

The immaculate tip

Birmimgham High's Devyn Jackson (right) catches a tipped pass off the hands of teammate Peyton Waters (left).
Birmimgham High’s Devyn Jackson (right) catches a tipped pass off the hands of teammate Peyton Waters (left) during the final minute of the CIF Division 3-AA regional bowl game Friday night.
(Craig Weston)

It was the game’s final play. Del Norte led 28-24. Birmingham had the ball on its own 48-yard line. Quarterback Kingston Tisdell threw the pass down the middle. Everyone knew who he was trying to throw to: Peyton Waters, the reigning City Section player of the year. Except there were three defenders on him. Somehow, he tipped the ball, along with others, and it ended up in the hands of Devyn Jackson for a game-winning touchdown.

Advertisement

A look in slow motion of the play almost seems like the play was practiced. Waters has played basketball for Birmingham. It was almost a tip drill or even something you’d see in volleyball.

Except Waters and coach Jim Rose said that play was not practiced.

“If we practice that we definitely would have screwed it up,” Rose said.

Said Waters: “No, it wasn’t on purpose. I went up going for the ball. It was tipped and happened to go to Devyn. It was all desperation and worked out in our favor. That’s why you don’t give up, even on the last play, when you’re down.”

Waters remained in shock well after the game’s conclusion.

“I can’t believe we won,” he said. “It was a crazy experience. Everyone was going crazy. It didn’t hit me until after the game walk to the bus realizing as a senior that could have been my last game but we’re still playing.”

Advertisement

Tisdell finished with four touchdown passes and has gone 14 games without throwing an interception. Birmingham will play Acalanes at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday at Saddleback College.

贬别谤别’蝉 a report, photos and videos from the historic game.

Advertisement

Then, on Saturday, St. Bonaventure trailed St. Augustine 20-14 with 14 seconds left. St. Augustine had the ball on its 17 and decided to punt. It was shanked. St. Bonaventure took over on the 30 with eight seconds left. After a pass completion to the 4-yard line, St. Bonaventure had two seconds left. That’s when the Seraphs pulled off a double pass, getting the tying touchdown and getting the winning extra point.

贬别谤别’蝉 the story from the second miracle in San Diego. St. Bonaventure will face a tough test from Folsom in the 1-A final on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Saddleback College.

贬别谤别’蝉 a look at top individual performances.

State finals

Mater Dei quarterback Elijah Brown, right, celebrates with wide receiver Cooper Barkate
Mater Dei quarterback Elijah Brown, right, celebrates with wide receiver Cooper Barkate in the 2021 CIF state championship game.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Saddleback College, El Camino College and Pasadena City College will be the sites Friday and Saturday for the CIF state championship football bowl games.

The big one is Mater Dei taking on unbeaten San Mateo Serra on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Saddleback College. 贬别谤别’蝉 a report how Southern California teams have received little competition from Northern California teams in recent years in the highest division and how a cycle of domination shows no signs of ending.

Advertisement

贬别谤别’蝉 the link to matchups.

Three City Section teams have made it to championship games: Birmingham, Banning and Fairfax. Banning attempted just one pass all game in its 5-A regional win over La Jolla Country Day. It will play Saturday at El Camino College against unbeaten Woodland Christian. Fairfax plays Friday at El Camino College against Ferndale.

On Friday at Saddleback College, Sacramento Grant will play La Serna at 4 p.m. in 2-AA, followed by De La Salle vs. Mission Viejo in 1-AA at 8 p.m.

Other teams in state finals are Mayfair facing Marin Catholic on Saturday at El Camino College in 3-A and Bell Gardens facing Strathmore in 7-A on Saturday at Pasadena City College.

Basketball

Four teams traveled to Arizona for the Hoophall one-day event. No. 1 St. John Bosco and No. 2 Harvard-Westlake won games while Corona Centennial and Sierra Canyon lost in close games. 贬别谤别’蝉 a report.

Advertisement

There were great games at Redondo Union, none better than JSerra going to double overtime to beat Eastvale Roosevelt. 贬别谤别’蝉 the report.

Two big games are set for Wednesday. Harvard-Westlake is hosting St. Pius X-St. Matthias and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame is hosting Campbell Hall in a game where Bryce James used to practice for both schools before returning to Sierra Canyon.

Pasadena handed Crespi its first defeat in winning the Maranatha tournament.

贬别谤别’蝉 this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times.

Jordin Blackmon (left) and freshman Armanyie Reed are heavily recruited girls' basketball players at Bishop Montgomery.
Junior Jordin Blackmon (left) and freshman Armanyie Reed are heavily recruited girls’ basketball players at Bishop Montgomery.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

In girls basketball, Bishop Montgomery is trying to join the conversation as a contender to challenge Etiwanda and Sierra Canyon. 贬别谤别’蝉 a report from their win over Brentwood and how the team has two outstanding young players to watch.

Advertisement

Etiwanda picked up a 65-58 win over La Jolla Country Day, surviving a 40-point effort from Naomi Panganiban.

Perrantes legacy

Sophomore Malakai Perrantes of Crespi is the fourth and youngest brother to play sports.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

The last of four Perrantes brothers, Malakai, is a starting sophomore guard for Crespi.

The Perrantes family is well respected in the San Fernando Valley.

The oldest brother, London, was a star point guard at Crespi and Virginia and plays professionally in Greece.

贬别谤别’蝉 the report.

Dave Keefer keeps working

Dave Keefer is 82 years old and runs the California Preps website.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

At 82 years old, Dave Keefer is still running his CaliforniaPreps website. You’ll see him these days in gyms taking photos during the basketball season.

The only slowing down for him is perhaps driving at night. Otherwise, it’s full speed ahead enjoying writing about high school athletes, something he started in 2000 after retiring from a non-media job. He liked basketball and liked sports and keeps coming back for more.

Soccer

Advertisement

Glen Appels took over St. Francis’ soccer program in 1989. He earned his 500th coaching victory Thursday. His teams have won three Southern Section championships. He’s the second winningest soccer coach in Southern Section history.

Tyler Cash of Oak Park had four goals in win over Hesperia.
(Sharon Levy Photography)

Oak Park and Hesperia had a meeting a year after they played a memorable playoff game in the snow. In their latest game, Tyler Cash scored four goals to rally Oak Park to a 5-3 victory.

Harvard-Westlake, now in Division 1, made an impressive debut with a 2-0 win over Division 1 power Cathedral. JT Federman and Tyler Ullrich scored the goals for the Wolverines.

Harvard-Westlake’s girls’ soccer team picked up a 1-0 win over Downey on a goal by standout Vicky Pugh.

Enjoying this newsletter?

Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Become a Los Angeles Times subscriber.

Notes . . . .

St. Bonaventure offensive lineman Shaun Torgeson has committed to Portland State. . . .

Austin Pope has been dismissed as basketball coach at Burroughs. He was in his first season and the team was 6-1. . . .

Pitcher Nick Salmon of Corona del Mar has committed to UC Santa Barbara. . . .

Daniela Borruel of Sunny Hills won the Southern Section girls’ individual tennis championship by defeating sophomore Danielle Nikmehr of Palos Verdes 6-2, 6-3. The Mater Dei duo of Chloe Vu and Haley Tran won the doubles title. . . .

Outfielder Ryder Dykstra from Corona Centennial has committed to USC. . . .

After four years as head football coach at Burroughs, Jesse Craven has accepted the offer to become head coach at Westlake, one of the most challenging coaching positions because of the parents. . . .

Matt Poston has resigned as football coach at Tesoro. He began as an assistant in 2001, took over as head coach in 2013 and was well respected. He will continue as a math teacher.

From the archives: Charisma Osborne

UCLA guard Charisma Osborne dribbles against Stanford during an NCAA college basketball game Monday.
UCLA guard Charisma Osborne dribbles against Stanford during an NCAA college basketball game Monday, Dec. 21, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Former Windward star Charisma Osborne is in the perfect situation to gain national attention as the star fifth-year player for UCLA, ranked No. 2 in the nation in women’s college basketball.

Advertisement

She entered this past week averaging 15.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. She scored a career-high 36 points during last season’s NCAA tournament.

贬别谤别’蝉 a 2017 story about Osborne’s talents in high school.

Recommendations

From the Washington Post, a story on how the changes in college football recruiting are affecting high school recruits.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on the Special Olympics fall games held in Fountain Valley.

From the Daily Breeze, a look at new football leagues in the South Bay for 2024.

Tweets you might have missed

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Until next time...

Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.

Did you get this newsletter forwarded to you? To sign up and get it in your inbox, click here.

Advertisement
universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
soxtry.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
maw-pr.com
zaaksen.com
ypxsptbfd7.com
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
onlinenewsofindia.com
worldgraphic-team.com
bnsrz.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
webmanicura.com
osostore.com
softsmob.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
odskc.com
inzziln.info
leaiiln.info
cq-oa.com
dqtianshun.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
bartoysdirect.com
taquerialoscompadresdc.com
aaoodln.info
amcckln.info
drvrnln.info
dwabmln.info
fcsjoln.info
hlonxln.info
kcmeiln.info
kplrrln.info
fatcatoons.com
91guoys.com
signupforfreehosting.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
topsedu.xyz
xmxm7.com
x332.xyz
sportstrainingblog.com
autopartspares.com
readguy.net
soniasegreto.com
bobbygdavis.com
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
qazwsxedcokmijn.com
parabis.net
terriesandelin.com
luxuryhomme.com
studyexpanse.com
ronoom.com
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
snn01.com
hope-kelley.com
bancodeprofissionais.com
zjccp99.com
liturgycreator.com
weedsmj.com
majorelenco.com
colcollect.com
androidnews-jp.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
nova-click.com
abeautifulcrazylife.com
diggmobile.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
sizam-design.com
kakakpintar.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
bamthemes.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com
avgo.top