GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE FOOTBALL : Bolsa Grande’s Late Mistakes Prove Costly and Pacifica Wins, 20-16

GARDEN GROVE —  Bolsa Grande High School gambled and won for most of its Garden Grove League game against Pacifica Thursday, converting four fourth-down situations in the first half. But in the crucial moments, the gamblers got careless and the game slipped away. Pacifica won, 20-16, at Bolsa Grande Stadium.

“This one will really hurt,” said Bill Holst, Bolsa Grande coach. “We had them where we wanted them and then it just slipped away.”

Holst had seen his team control the ball for most of the first half, in large part due to two Pacifica fumbles. Bolsa Grande (4-4 overall, 3-2 in league) had a 16-13 halftime lead. But Pacifica (5-2-1, 5-0) ended up scoring the winning touchdown on a drive set up by a Bolsa Grande mistake and then stopped two Bolsa Grande drives deep in Pacifica territory by recovering a fumble and intercepting a pass.

Actually, the game slipped away on a couple of bounces. The first came early in the fourth quarter with Bolsa Grande leading 16-13. A Pacifica punt was bounding down the field when it hit the back of the leg of Bolsa Grande’s Fred Ornelas who was blocking on the play.

Pacifica’s Bennett Kim pounced on the ball and the Mariners had a first down on the Bolsa Grande 34. Two rushing plays yielded four yards, and on third down Pacifica quarterback Bobby Anderson threw a pass to Mark Flatten that appeared to be intercepted by Bolsa Grande’s Trent Wood.

But officials ruled that Wood had bumped Flatten and, on the pass interference penalty, gave Pacifica a first down at the Bolsa Grande 15. Four plays later, Anderson scored his second rushing touchdown of the night, this one on a three-yard run. Anderson’s extra point gave Pacifica the eventual winning margin of 20-16. Anderson also threw for the game’s first score, a three-yard pass to Blaine Wilkins.

“I couldn’t tell what happened,” Bill Craven, Pacifica coach, said. “I didn’t know if we caught it, they caught it or if it was incomplete.”

Holst was a little more opinionated. “Terrible call,” he said.

Still, Bolsa Grande didn’t seemed fazed, taking possession at its 30 and driving to the Pacifica 22 in eight plays. But Carlos Torres fumbled and Pacifica’s Chris Maroney recovered to end the drive with 5:18 to play.

Bolsa Grande got the ball back with 1:47 to play and started driving again. On a fourth-and-three from his 28, Bolsa Grande quarterback Sonny Nguyen completed a 38-yard pass to Wood. Bolsa Grande had the ball on the Pacifica 34 with little more than a minute to go. But on the next play, Nguyen, who completed 12 of 18 passes for 186 yards, threw his first interception, this one by Mike Christie, and Bolsa Grande’s chances ended.