Carr’s field goal drives Aliso Niguel past Sailors

Wolverines’ senior boots 48-yarder with two seconds left for the difference in 24-21 Sea View win.ALISO VIEJO -- Aliso Niguel High used horse-drawn carriages for its halftime homecoming show, but it was a Carr that propelled the Wolverines’ football team to a 24-21 Sea View League win over Newport Harbor.

Senior Eric Carr kicked a 48-yard field goal with two seconds left for the winning margin. And before that, the 5-foot-10, 192-pounder’s run with his own teammate’s fumble helped convert a fake punt that set up Aliso’s tying touchdown.

Fourth down was the moment of truth for both teams in the final period.

Newport Harbor scored on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line when senior quarterback Tom Jackson hit fullback Jack Tracy on a bootleg pass with 9:43 left in the game.

Nick Frazier added the third of his three conversion kicks to put the visitors (5-3, 2-1 in league) -- ranked No. 9 in CIF Southern Section Division VI -- ahead, 21-14.

Aliso Viejo elected not to punt on fourth-and-five at its own 40 on its ensuing possession. Instead, receiver Aaron Long -- the lone upback in punt formation -- fielded a short snap and shuffled to his left on an apparent option play.

Long was hit at the line of scrimmage, short of a first down, and the ball popped loose. But the ball squirted directly in the path of Carr, who was the intended pitchman on the option play, he said.

Carr scooped up the fumble and advanced it 6 yards for the first down. Five plays later, on fourth-and-goal, senior quarterback Tyler Zanolli scored on a 1-yard sneak.

Carr’s conversion kick knotted the score.

Newport Harbor, which utilized second-quarter touchdown drives of 11 and 12 plays to take leads of 7-0, then 14-7, moved from its 28-yard-line to its 49 after the ensuing kickoff.

But, faced with fourth-and-one, Coach Jeff Brinkley elected to punt and Aliso Viejo took over at its 20 with 1:23 left.

“There was still a lot of time left,” Brinkley said of his decision to punt.

Zanolli, who threw for 171 yards and two touchdowns, hit Brice Murtaugh on a 24-yard throwback on first down. Zanolli then scrambled to the Newport Harbor 42, running out of bounds to stop the clock with 40 seconds left.

After a 3-yard run and a spiked pass, Zanolli -- who rushed for 50 yards -- scrambled to the Sailors’ 31.

The Wolverines (6-2, 2-1), ranked No. 8 in CIF Division VI, called their final timeout with eight seconds left. Carr, who booted a 50-yard field goal in an 18-0 win over Woodbridge on Oct. 20, kicked it right down the middle.

“I can make it from anywhere,” said Carr, who was at the center of a wild postgame celebration. “I never had any doubt [about the game-winner]. This is the game we live for. This is the game of our lives.”

Brinkley lamented the bounce on the fumble during Aliso’s fake punt.

“We had them stopped, before the fumble,” he said.

Newport Harbor completed one lateral on the ensuing kickoff return, but the ballcarrier slipped down at the Aliso Niguel 43-yard line to end the game and deliver a huge blow to the Sailors’ hopes of defending their Sea View League title.

Newport Harbor senior tailback Ryan Rippon carried 28 times for 149 yards and one touchdown.

Jackson finished 7 of 15 for 68 yards and two touchdowns.

Newport drove 99 yards, all on the ground, for its first touchdown. The visitors went 80 yards on their next possession, including 55 yards on four Jackson completions.

“We have a heck of a team here and we can always come back, as long as you believe,” Aliso Viejo Coach Jeff Vedder told his players after the victory, only the Wolverines’ second in seven meetings with the Sailors.

Vedder credited Zanolli and Carr for some big plays, but also praised his offensive line.

After being stopped for no gain by Newport Harbor defensive end Scott Andrews on a first-quarter scramble and getting sacked by Mike Calabrese early in the second quarter, Zanolli had plenty of time to throw or scramble to help move the chains the rest of the way.

“He’s just now getting comfortable, because he’s a natural receiver,” Vedder said of Zanolli, who played receiver last season. “But he’s an athlete, a leader and a winner.”

After Zanolli threw 23 yards to Brian Pelichowski to tie the game, 14-14, midway through the third quarter, both teams exchanged punts.

But Newport benefited from a 13-yard shank to take over at the Aliso Niguel 40 with 1:53 left in the third period.

Seven plays later, Jackson hit Tracy for the go-ahead score.

But the Sailors couldn’t stop the Wolverines on the hosts’ final two possessions and saw its six-game Sea View League winning streak come to an end.