Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now
GARDEN GROVE – The Segerstrom football team wanted to control its fate and didn’t want its season to come down to a coin flip Friday night at Garden Grove High.
Thankfully for the Jaguars, their defense came through with several key plays, including a 63-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown, in a 24-13 victory over Garden Grove that gave Segerstrom a share of the Big 4 League title.
Jalen Cervantes put Segerstrom (4-6, 2-1 in league) ahead with his fumble recovery touchdown, and it never looked back.
“Our defense is what we pride ourselves on,” Cervantes said. “Being able to shut teams down and hold them to a minimum. If the other team can’t score, we’ll win.”
The victory secured an automatic playoff spot for Segerstrom, and the league’s other automatic spot went to Garden Grove (7-3, 2-1).
A loss by Segerstrom would have put it in a three-way tie for second with Katella (5-5, 1-2) and Marina (4-6, 1-2). Those three teams would need a tiebreaker to determine who would receive the league’s second playoff berth.
The Jaguars defense began to take over the game early with a Cervantes sack.
Erik Martinez later intercepted a pass from Garden Grove quarterback Vany Rodriguez, who left the game after the play with a foot injury.
Segerstrom next focused on stopping running back Malachi Bey.
Cervantes gave the Jaguars a 17-13 lead with the fumble recovery touchdown.
“Our defense put pressure on them,” Segerstrom running back Julian Diaz said. “They couldn’t do anything. We stopped the run and they couldn’t pass on us. Jalen did a great job tonight.”
With backup quarterback Dominik Bracamontes in the game, Garden Grove focused on giving Bey the ball, but he could only do so much. He finished with 88 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns.
Segerstrom got its final score with a nine-minute drive led by Diaz, who reached the end zone on a 5-yard run to put the game away.
Diaz rushed for 75 yards on 11 carries with the score, and Noble Acosta rushed for 36 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown.
Segerstrom will now prepare for the playoffs after starting the season 1-5. The playoff pairings will be announced on Sunday morning.
“We scheduled a tough preseason,” Segerstrom coach Joe Tagaloa said. “We had to fight through some adversity early on. We had some players pulled in the first week due to COVID protocol. At one point, we had 10 players out (because of) COVID protocol.
“It was one of those things where everyone kept putting it together and getting better every week. By the time we got to league, we kind of figured it out a little bit. Our defense has been playing so well for us. I’m proud of these guys, of their effort throughout the game. I’m definitely excited.”
This post first appeared on ocregister.com
ncG1vNJzZmhqZGy7psPSmqmorZ6Zwamx1qippZxemLyue82erqxno5q0pr7SramopV2bvLDAwZqjpWWXmsG0ecuina1llqe8rnnDnp2epqOaeqq6jLCgp2Wfq7KzecaaqZ2dnmK0s7vVnmStp12cv6KujKyfmqqVYrynecuemKCtlWLBqsDLnmY%3D