GARDENA — The Serra football team had the Mission League title within their reach at times Friday.
However, late in the fourth quarter, Sierra Canyon (7-3, 5-0) snatched it away.
Sierra Canyon rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit, scored the winning touchdown with 5:19 remaining and turned the defensive line pressure loose to secure a 21-20 win.
The loss snapped Serra’s five-game winning streak.
“They’re talented, obviously and we knew it was going to come down to a couple of plays,” Serra coach Scott Altenberg said. “We had a mix up on one play and it turned into a pick-six, we missed a fourth down in their territory, those were two really big plays that we missed.
“I think our defense played fantastic, against a good offense, I thought we moved the ball well …guys battled, but it’s real disappointing.”
Serra (7-3, 4-1) led 17-7 at halftime.
Midway through the third quarter, it was the Sierra Canyon defense that struck first with Jae’on Young picking off a Jimmy Butler pass and returning it 53 yards for a touchdown, cutting Serra’s lead to 17-14.
Serra increase its lead to 20-14 on a 31-yard field goal by Nate Altenberg, but those were the final points the Cavaliers would score.
On the next possession, Sierra Canyon’s Wyatt Becker completed four passes, ending with an 8-yard touchdown to Jace Goodwin to take 21-20 lead.
Serra fumbled on its next possession, but the defense held Sierra Canyon to a three-and-out, giving the ball back to the offense with 2:27 left.
After a consecutive first downs moved the ball to the Serra, the Sierra Canyon defense turned up the pressure, eventually leading to Richard Wesley’s fourth-down sack.
“Ever since the summer, we knew we were going to rely on our defense and that was going to be the strength of our team,” Sierra Canyon coach Jon Ellinghouse said. “Very evident tonight, they made plays when it needed to happen.
“We kind of had a lack of emotion most of the night, which was odd, but we got it going there …Jae’on (Young) made huge pick six there to get us going and then we started playing some really good football.”
Sierra Canyon opened the scoring in the game with a perfectly called and executed 25-yard touchdown on a reverse by Massiah Mingo on a fourth-down on its first possession of the game.
From there, that served as the wake-up call that Serra needed.
Later in the quarter, Devohn Moutra scored a 5-yard touchdown and in the second quarter, Nate Altenberg’s 25-yard field goal gave Serra a 10-7 lead.
Early in the second quarter, Serra increased its lead as Jimmy Butler hit CJ McBean for a 54-yard touchdown for a 17-7 lead, which Serra would take into halftime.
That momentum would follow Serra out for the second half, as it suffered a fourth consecutive loss against Sierra Canyon. This one, the closest and perhaps the most frustrating.
“We have to figure a way to beat them,” Scott Altenberg said. “They’ve had our number and you give them a lot of credit, they have great players, they do a really good job. We just have to figure out a way to get over the top.
“We’ve been there, we had this with Oaks Christian for awhile and we just have to figure it out and we will.”
Both teams will await Sunday’s CIF-Southern Section football pairings, which will be announced Sunday. Sierra Canyon will likely be in Division 1 and Serra going to Division 2.
“We think we’re a really good football team, we think Sierra Canyon is one of the best teams around and we had every chance to beat them,” Scott Altenberg said. “We had every chance to beat Orange Lutheran, we had every chance to beat Oaks Christian …we could be 10-0 right now, we know that.
“Our guys are value every play a little more, we talked about that. When you play good teams, it’s what happens, it comes down to these things.”
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