Poway’s 3-Play Drive Steers It to Semifinals

Poway could have turned Friday night’s 3-A San Diego Section quarterfinal football game into an “us versus him” contest against Mira Mesa quarterback Mike Nelson.

But the Titans let bygones be bygones and managed to pull off a 17-10 victory at Poway.

That either team even made it this far in playoffs was a feat in itself. Mira Mesa (6-6) bumped off top-ranked Helix a week ago, and Poway (9-3) had never won two games in postseason play in the same year.

“We knew we could, but nobody believed in us,” Poway quarterback Travis Nichols said. “All year long we kept the faith.”

With the score knotted at 10-10 with 10:35 to play in the game, the Titans took over on their own 36. Nichols engineered what proved to be the winning touchdown drive. The unlikely three-play, 64-yard drive culminated in a one-yard run up the middle by Nichols.

“We knew we could throw against them,” said receiver Jeff Pattison (six catches, 112 yards), who caught the first of two perfectly executed passes that eventually landed Poway in the semifinals against tonight’s Mt. Carmel-Castle Park winner.

Pattison caught a 28-yard lob that put the Titans on the Marauders’ 36, then Nichols opted to go to Bill Loper on a slant pattern that Nichols said is usually good for 10 to 12 yards.

It went for 35, and Nichols scored on the next play.

Said Mira Mesa free safety Mike Pittman, who was in on the coverage: “I didn’t get deep enough and he threw a bomb and I couldn’t stop him.”

And you couldn’t blame Poway for wanting to stop Nelson, who a year ago played for Poway. When Nelson’s family moved from Poway to Scripps Ranch last year, he had to transfer.

“We felt that he moved because the (Poway) program wasn’t as efficient as (Mira Mesa’s),” Nichols said. “But I wasn’t playing against Nelson, I was playing Mira Mesa.”

Nelson had no regrets.

“I had to do what I had to do,” he said. “But (Poway) was real great about it. No one said anything during the game.”

And Poway had to play catch-up. Nelson was five of seven for 78 yards, including a three-yard touchdown pass to Trevor Pierce that gave the Marauders a 7-0 lead. Nelson completed three passes for 22 yards in the second half.

Matt Turner then kicked a 39-yard field goal to close it to 7-3.

Late in the half, Russ Fouts recovered a Nelson fumble. Two players later, Nichols hit Pattison for 30 yards for a 10-7 edge.

With 10:40 left in the game, John Matish converted a 46-yard field goal that bounced off the crossbar.