Sports

Football: Trabuco Hills 21, San Clemente 14

The Mustangs score in the final minute and create a three-way tie for third place in the South Coast League.

What goes around comes around.

A week ago, San Clemente stunned Tesoro with three touchdowns in the last four minutes to steal a victory.

On Friday, San Clemente felt Tesoro's pain.

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Trying to get out of last place in the South Coast League, Trabuco Hills scored twice in the fourth quarter—the last with 19 seconds left—to beat 10th-ranked San Clemente, 21-14.

J.T. Land's 19-yard run in the closing seconds gave Trabuco Hills its first lead of the night at Thalassa Stadium in San Clemente.

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The victory by Trabuco technically gives it—along with the Tritons and Tesoro—a slugger's chance of making the playoffs as an at-large entry, but it's unlikely.

It created a three-way tie for third place in the South Coast League behind playoff-bound Mission Viejo and El Toro. Trabuco Hills (5-5), San Clemente (5-5) and Tesoro (7-3) all finish the season with 1-3 league records. A week after beating Tesoro, San Clemente needed a victory over Trabuco to make its case as a deserving team in the Southern Section Pac-5 playoffs.

The likely at-large playoff teams are La Puente Bishop Amat (7-2-1) and Encino Crespi (8-2) from the Serra League.

Landon Cook gave San Clemente the early lead on a 1-yard run less than two minutes into the second quarter. Cook made it 14-0 when he caught a 10-yard pass from Sam Darnold with 3:09 left in the first half.

Trabuco salvaged the half on Nathan Perry's 19-yard scoring pass to Alex Staff with five seconds left.

The Mustangs defense shut out San Clemente in the second half, and tied the score on Perry's 20-yard run on third-and-goal. That gave both teams 9:06 to determine a winner.

The Mustangs used nearly all of it when Land made the play that counted.


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