PREP FOOTBALL : Empire League Roundup : Kick Fails, So Katella Holds On

Katella High School’s football team will be making its second consecutive trip to the Southern Section playoffs, but first the Knights had to survive some anxious moments Thursday night in a 21-20 victory over Loara.

Before Katella could reserve another trip to the playoffs, it had to await the outcome of a free kick attempt at a 34-yard field goal with 4 seconds left in the game by Loara’s Eric Smith. The kick was short and wide to the right as 2,200 fans watched in Anaheim’s Glover Stadium.

Smith’s kick was set up following a poor center snap on a Katella punt that resulted in a 4-yard punt that Randy Halcomb fair caught at Katella’s 34.

Herb Hill, Loara’s veteran coach, never hesitated, calling for the free kick and sending in his field goal kicking unit following the fair catch as Katella’s defensive unit was ordered 10 yards away from the line of scrimmage.

Larry Anderson, Katella coach, called a timeout to instruct his team and give Smith time to think about his game-winning attempt. Smith then missed the kick and Katella had its playoff spot.

“I’ve never seen a game end like that,” Anderson said. “This is the biggest thrill of my life. All those years at Lynwood, they expected to make the playoffs and you never got any credit as a coaching staff for getting there.

“Here, finishing third is like winning the league. I thought it was really important for us to make the playoffs again and show everyone that last year was not a one-shot deal.”

Anderson is considered somewhat of a savior at Katella after leading the Knights to the playoffs in 1987 for the first time in 20 years. Katella (6-3-1, 3-2) matched the feat by keeping its poise following a wild first quarter.

The teams, which had struggled to score in 4 previous league games, combined for 34 points in the opening 10 minutes of play.

Brett Banta of Loara (5-4-1, 1-3-1) set the tone by returning the opening kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown. He caught the ball at his 12-yard line, raced down the right sideline and then cut to the center of the field near midfield and went untouched to the end zone.

Banta also scored on an 82-yard pass from Sean Conner in the opening quarter. Conner faked a punt at his 18 and found Banta wide open about 20 yards down field. Banta again went untouched to the end zone for a 20-7 lead.

Katella, a methodical running team, even got into the big-play act. Quarterback Dennis Briggs teamed with tight end Aaron Fogelsong on a 63-yard scoring play to cut Loara’s lead to 20-14.

The passing combination clicked again for Katella in the fourth quarter for the winning score with Fogelsong catching an 8-yard pass from Briggs.

Los Alamitos 42, Cypress 6--Junior quarterback Todd Gragnano completed 13 of 16 passes for 271 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the Griffins at Handel Stadium.

Los Alamitos heads into the Southern Section playoffs as the Empire League champions with a 5-0 league record and a 9-0-1 mark overall. Cypress finished 0-3-2 in league and 1-7-2 overall.