The game, after a tooth and nail fight, was circling down the drain. The momentum had passed to the mustard bottles. The Cavaliers were fibrillating near mid-field.
Khalil Tate dropped back for the 25th time, couldn't find a receiver for the 10th time. He pulled the ball down and wheeled to escape Amat's rush. But the Lancers had him surrounded. Tate wheeled again, but he was caught and on his way to the turf. The disgusted Cavalier stands were ready to throw in the towel. But, Tate would not fall.
He shook off his tacklers, gained his balance, rolled left, picked up speed and raced down the east sideline fifty yards for the decisive touchdown.
Watching Tate at full speed is a beautiful thing to see. Double sweet when victory is snatched from the scaly hands of defeat.
It wasn't all Tate by any means, but it was Houdini's game-saving run that will be remembered at the 50th reunion of the class of 2015-16. It's thanks to Tate that Burton, McGinty, Betiku, Walls or Roberson will want to relive this game forever. What a comeback, what a win. Serra now sits alone at the top of the Mission League with its toughest opponent (at least on paper) in the rear view mirror.
The game was a statistical anomaly. Amat had the ball 30 of the 48 minutes, Serra only 18. Amat had 16 first downs to Serra's nine. They ran 88 plays to Serra's 52. But Amat had the lead for less than two minutes.
The reason was Serra's quick-score offense. The longest Serra possession was three minutes, only one scoring drive took more than a minute. No wonder the defense was a little tuckered by the fourth quarter.
The first score of the game came on the best single pass play of the night. On Serra's second series, Tate dropped back with time to throw, plenty of time. He tossed a rainbow from east to west and down the field. Amat's safety was nearly inside Burton's uniform, but Burton adjusted, caught the ball at the flag, and stepped in to the endzone. Serra in charge at 6:36 in the 1st quarter.
Amat held the ball from 6:36 to 6:50, fifteen seconds. At 6:50, Amat's Garcia threw a little look in and Serra picked it off at the line of scrimmage. Serra couldn't capitalize when Escamilla's 45-yard field goal try, plenty long, sailed wide.
On their third series, the Lancers showed the skills that made them heavy favorites as of Friday morning. Nine plays, passes and runs, averaged five yards a snap. It was old fashioned grind-it-out football. When the Serra defense finally had the Lancers on the ropes, Garcia flipped a perfect screen pass to all-purpose back Torreahno Sweet. He ran 40 yards down the middle of the field, and the Lancers escaped with a first quarter tie.
The tie lasted about 50 seconds. On the third play of the second quarter, the O-line opened a huge hole for Job McGinty and there was nothing in front of him but 50 yards of green. PAT good, Serra 14-Amat 7.
Amat moved the ball 75 yards in fifteen plays on the next series, but had to settle for a field goal. Serra 14 - Amat 10 with 6:58 to play in the first half.
The Cavs went too and the Lancers went fro over the next three minutes. On the second fro, the Cavs stopped the Lancers on fourth down at the Serra 26.
The Serra drive started with a highlight film Tate run featuring an attempted high hurdle of a Lancer tackler in front of the Serra stands. A flag was thrown, but even more remarkably, picked up. On the next play, with the pocket breaking down and Tate jitterbugging away from tacklers, Tate got off a deep skinny post to Burton. Burton caught the ball at about the eleven and ran through Lancer tackler for the TD. 2:34 remained in the half.
Not much happened in those minutes, and Serra went to the lockers with a surprising 21 - 10 lead.
Amat took the opening kickoff of the second half and held it for twelve death-by-inches plays much aided by a growing hostility between the Cav fans and the CIF officiating crew. The drive finished off with a ten yard sweep into the Serra end zone. A low snap ruined Amat's PAT try, leaving Serra with a five- rather than a 4 point advantage: 21 -16.
If watching Amat move up the field like bulldozer was depressing, just imagine how the Lancers felt when Khalil Tate took Serra's first touch of the second half and did a perfect replay of his touchdown run at Loyola. Tate was enabled by a great hole in the line, a mistaken alignment of the Lancer secondary, and no Lancer fast enough to cut him off. But Serra gave back the botched extra point. PAT blocked. Serra 27 - Amat 16 with 7:35 remaining in what would be a painfully long third quarter.
Amat moved to the Serra 36 in four plays. On fourth and four, the Cavalier defense again stopped Amat on fourth down. Serra took over on downs with 2:35 remaining in the third.
The next series was mostly a battle of the Cavs vs. the officials. Six penalties in 7 plays, four penalties issued when the clock stopped on between the fourth and fifth play of the drive. Serra ended up 4th and 40, and it would be fair to say that no one on the west side of the field was going to contribute to the CIF retirement fund.
Although a superb punt salvaged some field position, the tiring Cavs couldn't stop the Lancers. Five plays, 65 yards, and the Serra lead was back down to three. Serra 34 - Amat 31.
Either the Cav offense was getting tired, or the Lancer defense benefited from their long rest time during the third quarter. Whatever: the Cavs were stymied in their first possession of the fourth. That led to and eleven play, bamboo-under-your-fingernails Amat drive with the clock draining away. Amat ended with the lead for the first time at 4:01. Serra 34 - Amat 38.
Serra began its last meaningful series at the 19. The Lancer D seemed to have Tate's number. The Cav O line couldn't open running lanes or hold a pocket. Tate was barely getting time to pull his arm back to pass before they got to him. It looked grim.
Third and sixteen, Tate was forced to run but only got as far as the original line of scrimmage. Game over. But wait! In a reprise of the play that got him in trouble at the Lakewood game, Tate was hit out of bounds. This time, he kept his cool, the flag went against Amat, and Serra had a little breathing room. One hurried incomplete pass. Hope was fading. But the second play after the penalty was Tate's Houdini run to Cavalier immortality. Even the mighty Los Angeles Times was impressed.
Serra played the game and especially the second half with a monkey on its back. 17 penalties, ten of them major, a total of 165 yards handed to Amat or taken from Serra. The debate over officiating is as hopeless as the debate over gun control. Whether the refs are right or wrong, there's no video review in high school. Refs make mistakes and when you play hard sometimes there's going to be a hit that arrives a second too late or a foot but of bounds. But refs are human. Treat 'em bad, and they'll be lot fewer no calls.
The disparity of major calls against Serra is a long standing Cavalier beef. It would take a scientific study to know if it's justified, but aggravating the officials never helps. Friday's game included a bizarre example of this truism.
Serra received a penalty when the back judge ran over and through the Gardena Valley News reporter.
Late in the game, with frustration over penalties building, someone on the Serra sideline plucked the flag out of the back judge's pocket and threw it on the track. Play was stopped, Serra was penalized fifteen. Ironically, not long after that same back judge couldn't find his flag on a pretty obvious case of pass interference by Amat's safety.
Next week, Serra plays Crespi at home. It's homecoming and a unique chance for alumni to see the ingenious design details of Serra's half-finished bleachers. Serra should be heavily favored. But every league game turns out to be closer than expected.
The USC/UCLA , as well as the Carolina Panthers, schedule
