Orange crushes Ocean View’s CIF football playoff hopes

Orange High coach Robert Pedroza knew his football team needed to win Friday night to avoid any playoff doubts this year.

After failing to make the postseason last season, despite going 7-3 and 2-3 in the Golden West League, the Panthers took destiny into their own hands in this year’s final regular-season game. They defeated host Ocean View 22-14 to clinch third place in league.

With league champion Santa Ana beating Segerstrom 35-14, Orange (8-2, 3-2 in league) is in good shape to make the CIF Southern Section Division 13 playoffs. Ocean View (5-5, 1-4), which finished fifth in league, won’t make the postseason.

“It’s a huge stepping stone,” Pedroza said. “We looked at the playoff scenario earlier this week and we knew this game was a must win. We knew that, at 8-2, there was just no way CIF was going to keep us out this year. Our goal was to leave no doubt.”

Orange senior quarterback Jason Wilkinson aired it out, ending the contest with 213 yards and two touchdowns. He completed 12 of 21 passes.

Balancing the offense and chewing most of the clock in the fourth quarter was senior running back Joseph Martinez. He ran 23 times for 97 yards.

“We finally got our running game on track and I attribute that to our offensive line,” Pedroza said. “We had a couple of injuries coming into this week and it was awesome to see the lines on both sides step it up.”

The Panthers scored 16 unanswered in the first quarter, capped off by a fake punt by Wilkinson. He found an open Syrus Collins for a 71-yard touchdown. Collins finished with five catches for 107 yards.

Ocean View stopped the bleeding by producing the second quarter’s only score. It came on a 23-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Noah Hickman to senior wide receiver Nathaniel Washington. But the Seahawks failed on a two-point try, and they trailed 16-6 at halftime.

Right after the Orange defense intercepted Hickman in the third quarter, Wilkinson rifled a pass to senior Jordan Schmidt for a 53-yard score. The Panthers failed on the two-point conversion, leaving the door open for the Seahawks.

Ocean View managed to make things interesting when it scored with 2:42 left to make it a one-possession game at 22-14. The ensuing onside kick would be recovered by the Panthers, however, as they ran out the clock to end the regular season with the highest of notes.

The Panthers, who are ranked fifth in the Division 13 poll, find out Sunday if they made the playoffs.

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Orange 22, Ocean View 14

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Orange 16 – 0 – 6 – 0 — 22

Ocean View 0 – 6 – 0 – 8 — 14

FIRST QUARTER

O – Collins 7 run (Collins pass from Wilkinson), 8:56.

O – Collins 71 pass from Wilkinson (Wilkinson run), 5:01.

SECOND QUARTER

OV – Washington 23 pass from Hickman (pass failed), :49.

THIRD QUARTER

O – Schmidt 53 pass from Wilkinson (run failed), 10:40.

FOURTH QUARTER

OV – De Loera 9 run (Washington pass from Wilkinson), 2:42.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

O – Martinez, 23-97.

OV – De Loera, 20-71, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

O – Wilkinson, 12-21-0, 213, 2 TDs.

OV – Hickman, 12-22-1, 144, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

O – Collins, 5-107, 1 TD.

OV – Washington, 4-81, 1 TD.

JUAN CARLOS GONZALEZ is a contributor to Times Community News: Follow him on Twitter: @JGonzalezSports