Coaches always stress the importance of special teams, and Oxnard Pacifica’s Mike Moon had a huge grin after three blocked punts played a vital role in his team’s 37-20 victory over Narbonne on Friday night in the CIF Southern California Regional Division 2-AA bowl game in Oxnard.
The Tritons (11-4) advance to the state bowl game next Friday at 4 p.m. against Sacramento Grant at Saddleback College.
“Our special teams early in the year, especially against Inglewood, was atrocious and there’s no reason for it because we practice it so much,” Moon said. “We watched film of Narbonne and thought we could take advantage of that.”
Anthony Macias knifed through the line to block a punt at the goal line, and Max Magana recovered the ball in the end zone to give Pacifica a 14-6 lead late in the first quarter. On its next possession, Narbonne was forced to punt from its own 25-yard line and this time Deon Hasley got the block. Magana pounced on the loose ball at the 22 and, four plays later, Isaac Magana kicked a 32-yard field goal to put the home team ahead 17-6.
“Coach Moon takes pride in special teams, and so when I saw them on the floor, I had to pick them up,” said Max Magana, a nickel back who also had five pass breakups on defense. “I like when I’m tested in the secondary. Now we have to keep our foot on the pedal and make sure that we win next week.”
Narbonne pulled to within 17-14 on Jamari Todd’s five-yard touchdown run and Jaden O’Neal’s conversion run, but Pacifica marched 66 yards in 12 plays and Isaac Magana booted his second field goal — a 23-yarder — as time expired and the Tritons took a 20-14 lead into halftime.
Narbonne pulled even on Mark Iheanachor’s seven-yard touchdown run on its first drive of the third quarter, but the extra-point kick was deflected by Macias and fluttered wide left. On its ensuing possession, Pacifica retook the lead on Dominic Duran’s seven-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Dillon. After both teams turned the ball over on downs, the Gauchos were forced to punt again from their 28. Juju Hernandez blocked it, and Budder Aina scooped up the prize and returned it 13 yards for a touchdown to make it 34-20.
After recovering a fumble on a pooch kick, Pacifica tacked on a 21-yard field goal by Isaac Magana — his third of the night — to make it a 17-point margin with 4:06 left.
One week after throwing for 396 yards and six touchdowns while running for another score in the City Section Open Division final versus San Pedro, Oklahoma-bound junior O’Neal was pressured all night and completed 14 of 32 passes for 199 yards. His longest throw was a 65-yard touchdown to Tre’Shaun Jackson in the first quarter.
“We wanted to pressure him with our four-man front and put them into guaranteed pass situations,” Moon said. “This team is battle-tested and we’ve won eight in a row. Our schedule has 100% contributed to us being where we are.”
Savion Taylor, who entered the game with 92 receptions for 1,255 yards and 14 touchdowns, added to his gaudy total with eight grabs for 63 yards, and Alijah Royster had five catches for 95 yards, including a 48-yard reception for the game’s first touchdown. Isaiah Phelps rushed for 73 yards in 22 carries and Duran completed 18 of 33 passes for 212 yards.
The Tritons are one win away from a second state bowl championship, having won the 2-A title in 2019 to complete a 15-1 season two weeks after claiming the Southern Section Division 6 crown under Moon. That season Pacifica beat another City Section team, Birmingham, in the regional bowl.
This might well be Moon’s most talented team. The Tritons (11-4) avenged a Marmonte League setback to St. Bonaventure to capture the Southern Section Division 4 title last week. Their other three losses are to schools in higher divisions.
The Gauchos (7-7) ended the season 1-3 on the field against Southern Section opponents, losing to Los Alamitos, Culver City and Pacifica while beating L.A. Cathedral — a result that was changed to a forfeit defeat after an investigation determined Narbonne used ineligible players. The Gauchos are banned from the playoffs next year. Asked if he’ll finish his prep career at Narbonne, O’Neal said he did not know.
“I’m not sure — I’ll speak with our coaching staff in the exit meetings,” O’Neal said. “The odds were stacked against us but we proved people wrong. We felt confident coming out of the half but ultimately they out-disciplined us. We’re more athletic, but the little things added up and we couldn’t overcome our mistakes.”
It remains to be seen how many players will return.
“Jaden is a gamer and did everything we expected of him,” said Gauchos coach Malcolm Manuel, who thanked his players for their commitment. “I’ve had Mark Iheanachor for four years, he gave it everything he had and I’m excited to follow his career at SMU.”
As for next fall, Manuel is confident the returning players will buy in.
“They’ll for sure compete,” he said. “We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores. Playing a 10-game season — which we didn’t get to do this year — is the motivation. We’ll get back to the drawing board.”
Narbonne had 24 players transfer into the program since spring ball, prompting all four league opponents to forfeit their games against the Gauchos and allege rule violations. Seven players were declared ineligible for the postseason.
