Magnolia, Pacifica Must Settle for a Tie

ANAHEIM —  Pacifica and Magnolia came out of Saturday’s nonleague game undefeated after battling to a draw, 21-21, at Western High.

Undefeated, though, doesn’t necessarily mean satisfied. Magnolia Coach Bill Friedrich was unhappy about late calls he thought cost the Sentinels a chance to win.

With 4 minutes 29 seconds left in the game, Chris Clark’s interception of a pass from Pacifica quarterback Matt Reis at midfield set Magnolia up for a potential game-winning drive. The drive slowed at the Pacifica 15 as the Sentinels faced a third and one. Anthony Zaragoza’s keeper up the middle appeared to give Magnolia a first down with 1:50 left. Magnolia was penalized for aiding the runner, negating the gain, and the Sentinels turned the ball over on downs one play later.

“When was the last time you saw that called?” Magnolia assistant coach Rick Penn said afterward.

Magnolia (3-0-1) got one more chance after Asi Faoa intercepted a Reis pass in the closing seconds. Faoa appeared to catch the ball while going out of bounds on the Pacifica sideline, but officials ruled he was tackled inbounds and started the clock once the ball was spotted. A Zaragoza pass to the end zone was incomplete as time ran out.

Magnolia scored on three consecutive possessions in the first half to build a 21-7 lead. Zaragoza scrambled around the left side from seven yards out for the opening score, and Jeremy Becker made two beautiful catches to account for the other touchdowns. Becker got open at the goal line to grab a 37-yard pass from Zaragoza, then caught a 25-yard touchdown pass.

Louie Ala got Pacifica (2-0-2) back in the game in the third quarter. He deflected a Magnolia punt that took a Mariner bounce and landed at the Magnolia 37. Ala then had runs of 12, 13, and 12 yards, the last one for a touchdown to cut the deficit to seven points.

Pacifica tied the score with 7:54 to go. A 35-yard pass from Reis to Justin Burt set up Bret Stern’s one-yard touchdown run.