Ocean View football rallies in second half to beat University

IRVINE —  Anthony Ramirez notched a 59-yard rushing touchdown and a 15-yard pick-six to fuel Ocean View High’s second-half comeback Friday night, leading to a 40-26 nonleague football victory at University.

The sophomore led the visitors in rushing with 158 yards on 17 carries. Quarterback Braden Crabtree connected on 12 of 21 throws for 137 yards and a touchdown while adding a rushing score.

Ocean View improves to 2-0 a year after its first league title since 1989, while the Trojans (0-2) rebounded with a better effort after a 42-8 drubbing at the hands of Laguna Hills last week.

The Seahawks battled to a 7-7 tie before the Trojans exploded with a pair of scores just before halftime. Trojans sophomore Noah Scherson took a screen pass from Brian Bush 42 yard for a score with just 23 seconds left for a 13-7 lead. Just seconds later, fellow sophomore Patrick Bassily intercepted a Crabtree pass and weaved across the field for a touchdown and a 20-7 advantage.

“This team is talented, but as you saw today, we still make a lot of mistakes,” Seahawks head coach Luis Nuñez said. “We’re going to get better. Like I said last week, I have a feeling by Week 7, you’re going to see a different football team.”

Crabtree, a transfer from Fountain Valley and the son of Sage Hill head coach BJ Crabtree, guided a pair of drives to start the second half to tie the game at 20-20. He completed passes to Uriel Guzman and Brandon Alcaraz to move the chains, eventually finishing the job himself on a one-yard sneak.

After getting the ball back after a strip-sack on the ensuing drive, Crabtree found Alcaraz in the back of the end zone for a 22-yard strike. He also threw two interceptions.

“He hasn’t played QB since he played JV when he was at Fountain Valley his sophomore year,” Nuñez said. “So he made that mistake when he threw that pick ... but those are things that he’s going to grow from as a young quarterback. He’s got a big arm, and he’s got the possibility of giving defenses big problems with that arm.”

Ramirez emerged over the next few minutes to stake the Seahawks to a 34-20 advantage just before the end of the third quarter.

Scherson and Bush responded with three straight connections, including a 76-yard pitch-and-catch, to draw the Trojans within 34-26. Scherson finished with five catches for 136 yards and two touchdowns, while also adding an interception late in the fourth quarter.

Bush completed 14 of 25 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns, but he also turned the ball over three times with two fumbles and the interception to Ramirez.

Ramirez would cap the scoring with a 10-yard burst up the middle. He supplanted last week’s starter Jonathan Gonzalez (eight carries, 71 yards and a touchdown) as the game wore on.

“Last week, [Anthony] struggled a little bit. Passive, tippy-toe in the hole,” Nuñez said. “It’s what you expect from a guy on the freshman team last year … it was awesome for him to do what he did.”

Ocean View had to replace virtually all of its skill positions after last season’s Pac-4 League crown. Nuñez came away impressed by his young team’s resolve, calling his youngsters “relentless” in his postgame speech.

The Seahawks return home on Sept. 13 for a 7 p.m. showdown with Beckman. The Trojans will remain home next week as they look for their first win of the season against Kennedy.

Nonleague

Ocean View 40, University 26

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Ocean View – 0 – 7 – 27 – 6 — 40

University 7 – 13 – 6 – 0 — 26

FIRST QUARTER

U – Alshahror 3 run (Morris kick), 8:50.

SECOND QUARTER

OV – Gonzalez 5 run (Barreto kick), 8:14.

U – Scherson 42 pass from Bush (kick failed), :23.

U – Bassily 55 INT return (Barreto kick), :05.

THIRD QUARTER

OV – Crabtree 1 run (Barreto kick), 6:38.

OV – Alcaraz 22 pass from Crabtree (kick failed), 5:05.

OV – Ramirez 59 run (Barreto kick), 3:24.

OV – Ramirez 15 INT return (Barreto kick), 2:39.

U – Scherson 76 pass from Bush (kick failed), :24.

FOURTH QUARTER

OV – Ramirez 10 run (kick failed), 9:15.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

OV – Ramirez, 17-158, 2 TDs.

U – Alshahror, 15-41.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

OV – Crabtree, 12-21-2, 137, 1 TD.

U – Bush, 14-25-1, 208, 2 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

OV – Alcaraz, 8-108, 1 TD.

U – Scherson, 5-136, 2 TDs.

::

Support our sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.

For more sports stories, visit latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/sports or follow us on Twitter @DailyPilotSport.