San Clemente ends Heritage's season with 23-19 victory

A perfect regular season, capped by a big win over rival Paloma Valley ... a No. 2 playoff seeding ... a first-round win...

It all came to an end Friday night at Heritage High School, where the Patriots lost a 23-19 decision to San Clemente in the second round of the CIF Division 2 playoffs. Yet even after getting beat by a very good team, Heritage coach Kraig Broach took satisfaction in the fact his players left it all out on the field.

"I'm very sorry about this because of how far this group of seniors came this year," Broach said. "They're just a great bunch of kids that made it fun to be out here.

"I was very proud of how they kept on battling. That's one very good team over there with one heck of a quarterback. Things just didn't go our way tonight."

Led by standout quarterback Jack Sears, who has committed to USC, the visiting Tritons took an early lead on their way to improving their record to 9-3 and earning a semifinal match-up with Valencia High. San Clemente scored on its first possession, driving 70 yards to score on a 25-yard run by Brandon Reaves. A two-point conversion attempt failed.

Heritage scored late in the first quarter on a 69-yard run by Sherod White to tie the score at 6-6, but the physical play of the San Clemente line and the play of Sears enabled the Tritons to quickly regain the lead. Sears hit Chase Berman with a 10-yard pass deep in Heritage territory, followed by a 20-yard TD pass to Reaves for a 13-6 lead.

The Tritons kept the pressure on -- although a tightened Heritage defense made for a close game near the end.

San Clemente held a 23-19 lead with the Patriots driving from their own red zone to midfield with the clock running under eight minutes remaining. The drive stalled at the San Clemente 42-yard line, however, and Heritage's James Phillips was stopped on a fourth-and-6 play to turn the ball over.

With the clock winding down under two minutes remaining, Sears showed some moves in running 47 yards down to the Heritage 11. The Tritons were content to milk the remainder of the clock and celebrate the victory.

"They made things difficult for us," Broach said. "During crunch time, either the play calling on my part or whatever, we didn't get it done. You've just got to give them credit. San Clemente was just a little bit better tonight."

The loss overshadowed another big game by Heritage senior Javier Luna, who rushed for 148 yards and a touchdown and played his usual solid game on defense.

"Javier is just a special kid," Broach said about Luna. "Just being around him day in and day out is something I'm going to treasure. The way he went about business and his on-field performance ... I haven't seen anything like it in a football player in all my years of coaching.

"For a 5-9, 160-pound kid to do all he did this year ... I'm amazed and honored and just love the kid."