SAN DIMAS — Second-seeded Dana Hills kicked a 20-yard field goal as time expired to pull out a 38-35 win over San Dimas in a CIF-Southern Section Division 6 quarterfinal game Friday night.
The Dolphins (10-2) will play the winner of the Glendora/Rancho Verde game in a semifinal matchup next Friday at a place TBD.
The two teams combined for 838 yards of offense in an old-fashioned shootout. It appeared they were headed for overtime when the Saints (9-3) tied the score with 50 seconds left on a nine-yard run by Caleb Morquecho.
The Dolphins took the kickoff and went 70 yards capped by junior Deven Meyer zu Drewer’s 20-yard field goal to win it.
“I was really excited to kick the field goal,” Meyer zu Drewer said. “I was a little nervous but, it’s just a football game.”
The key play on the drive was a 46-yard pass from Dolphins Vanden Dugger to Aiden Desormiers to the Saints’ 12-yard line.
Dugger was being chased out of the pocket, getting rid of the ball just as he got to the line of scrimmage.
“We needed a goal-line stand to win our game last week,” Dolphins coach Tony Henney said. “This week we had some unsung guys make plays on the final drive to give us the win. The fans got their money’s worth.”
The Dolphins scored first when Dugger looked like he was just throwing the ball away to avoid a sack when tight end Charlie Eckl grabbed the ball off his shoe tops and took it 55 yards for the score.
The Saints came right back, tying the score on a 35-yard pass from Aaron Gomez to Jacob Gallegos with 6:04 left in the first quarter.
“We got two good teams in the quarterfinals,” Saints coach Mark Holman said. “I wish we could have had one more possession but, they made one more play than we did. This is a tough loss for our seniors, they’re a really good group and I’m proud of the whole team.”
The Saints took a 14-7 lead with 10:30 left in the second quarter. On the Dolphins’ next drive, the Saints’ Julian Vigil intercepted a Dugger pass in the end zone.
Two plays later, Dolphins linebacker Grant Peters batted an Aaron Gomez pass and made a diving interception before the ball hit the ground giving them the ball at the Saints’ 17.
Two plays Dugger ran it in from four yards out, tying the game.
With the Saints leading by a touchdown and only four seconds left in the first half, the Dolphins decided to go for it rather than take the field goal.
Dugger hit his favorite receiver, Cameron Weaver with an 11-yard scoring pass as time expired.
“I knew this was going to be a touchdown wins games,” Henney said. “A field goal won it at the end but, in the first half I felt we needed to go for it.”