Vista Murrieta erases past disappointment, unseats perennial champ

MURRIETA — Third time's a charm?  Not exactly. Vista Murrieta quarterback Nick Stevens left nothing to chance Friday night.

The Broncos' first-year starter scampered for a go-ahead touchdown with 26 seconds left, and their vaunted defense dialed up one last stop against top-seeded Corona Centennial as second-seeded Vista Murrieta hung on for a 35-28 victory in the CIF Southern Section Inland Division championship.

"Unbelievable performance by our kids to battle back after they fell behind late," Vista Murrieta coach Coley Candaele said. "Our last drive, they executed almost perfectly. It's absolutely not the game I expected.

"I'm at a loss for words over the outcome."

A perennial Riverside County power often worthy of national note, the Huskies had won seven section titles in the last 11 years — including a 45-21 victory over the Broncos last year — and were inching toward another after quarterback Hayden Gavett hooked up with Giles Guy-Williams for a 21-yard touchdown pass for a 28-27 lead with 3 minutes, 29 seconds left in the game.

Centennial's defense appeared ready to close out the win, too, until a defender jumped offside on a fourth-and-2 snap at the Huskies' 38 inside the final minute.

Two plays later, Stevens faked a handoff to Aaron Piecukonis (103 yards, 25 carries), slipped off-tackle to the left, and dashed up the middle of the Huskies' defense for a 30-yard go-ahead score. His connection with Nick Chase on the two-point conversion secured a 35-28 cushion against a potent Centennial offense that had trailed the Broncos for much of the game.

"We wanted to set up for a field goal so that they couldn't get the ball back and score right away because they are so explosive," said Stevens, who threw for 134 yards and two scores and rushed for 108. "I saw an open crease and I wasn't about to give up that touchdown."

The Broncos (9-5) led by as much as 27-14 — thanks to Tyler Rausa's 44-yard field goal a minute into the fourth quarter — putting the Huskies (12-2) in a position where they needed to mount a furious comeback.

Naturally, they did. Romello Goodman (163 yards, 21 carries) dashed 57 yards for his second touchdown of the game on Centennial's ensuing possession. Then, after a three-and-out — the Broncos' only one of the game — Gavett capped a 91-yard touchdown drive that put the Broncos' backs to the wall for the first time this season.

In turn, the Broncos — ranked fourth in the state and No. 19 in the nation, according to maxpreps.com — responded with Stevens' scamper, giving Vista Murrieta its first section title in three straight trips to the title game.

The Broncos lost their first at home to Southwestern League rival Chaparral. Then they lost last year's championship at Centennial.

It all made this victory that more special.

"All we've heard for three years is Centennial, Centennial, Centennial," said Broncos junior http://www.nctimes.com/sports/stats/a19ee526-b2ed-11df-ab6e-001cc4c002e0.html"> Su'a Cravens, who rushed for a score and caught a touchdown pass from Stevens. "To get the monkey off our back at home, it's unbelievable."

The Broncos might not be done, either.

Undefeated on the field, they'll await the CIF section commissioners' decision on the state bowl game Sunday. Five forfeited wins will make for an interesting conversation, though Candaele believes that playoff wins over Upland and Centennial — two of the top teams in the state this year — should punch their ticket to Carson.

"Absolutely," Candaele said. "Because someone messed up in Georgia three years ago, we're not playing in a bowl game? It doesn't make sense. If they don't choose us, it's just wrong."

The Broncos made their own luck in the first half, with their defense and special teams setting up optimal field position.

Two three-and-outs led to Rausa's 37-yard field goal and Cravens' 6-yard touchdown pass on Vista Murrieta's first two possessions. Darion Williams ---- who later had an interception ---- also blocked a punt in the second quarter, setting up his 34-yard touchdown reception for a 17-7 lead midway through the second quarter.

But when Gavett answered with a 16-yard scoring strike to Guy-Williams, the Broncos drove down the to the Huskies' 1, only to come away empty. A false-start penalty thwarted a fourth-and-goal snap, and when the Broncos still elected to go for the touchdown with 11 seconds left, Williams couldn't come up with a jump ball in the corner of the end zone.

At the end of the night, Candaele was relieved that the decision didn't come back to haunt his program.

"I killing myself all throughout the third and fourth quarter because of that," Candaele said.