Valencia Puts Away San Clemente

Michael Herrick completed 25 of 35 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns and the Valencia defense held San Clemente to 84 yards in the second half as the Vikings defeated the Tritons, 37-7 in a Southern Section Division II semifinal Friday night at Valencia.

Valencia (12-1) will play the winner of tonight’s game between top-seeded Mission Viejo and Upland next Saturday night at Angel Stadium. It is the second trip to the finals for Valencia, which lost in the Division III championship game in 1999 to Newhall Hart.

Second-seeded Valencia took a 17-0 halftime lead on touchdown runs of two and four yards by Shane Vereen and a 37-yard field goal by Brian Malette, then the Vikings’ defense took over.

The turning point came after Valencia extended its lead to 24-0 on a two-yard pass from Herrick to Shane Morales with 3:07 left in the third quarter. Four plays later, linebacker Gary Cox forced a fumble and lineman Mauricio Cos picked it up and ran 12 yards for a touchdown and a 31-0 lead.

Vereen finished with 111 yards and two touchdowns in 20 carries.

San Clemente, which lost in the semifinals for the fourth consecutive year, played without starting running back Kevin Fortin, who was out with a sprained ankle.

The Tritons (10-3) had 193 total yards and only 11 first downs -- three in the second half.

San Clemente was also hurt by nine penalties for 115 yards. Five of those were personal fouls in a frustration-filled second half.

Peter Yoon

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Compton Dominguez 20, Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula 0 -- Quarterback Marvin Johnson passed for two touchdowns and ran for another in the Division III semifinal as the second-seeded Dons advance to their first championship game since 1996.

Johnson rushed for 110 yards in 10 carries and completed five of seven passes for 70 yards. Richard Sherman made a juggling, 20-yard catch just over the goal line midway through the first quarter to give the Dons a 7-0 lead and Johnson found Darryl Crummie open in the corner of the end zone for a 23-yard scoring play midway through the second quarter.

Johnson added a two-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter for the final margin. Dominguez (12-1) stopped the third-seeded Panthers (11-1-1) on three fourth-down attempts in the second half.

“We were able to get in the gaps much faster than I thought we would,” said Dominguez Coach Willie Donerson, who rated his team’s defensive performance as one of its best, even though the unit did not score for the first time in nine games.

Ben Bolch

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Ventura 10, Agoura 9 -- Matthew Starn’s 36-yard field goal with nine seconds left in the first half proved the difference in a Division IV semifinal at Ventura High.

Cory Smits ran for a two-yard touchdown to give Agoura (9-4) a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game, but the senior quarterback was stymied by the Cougars’ defense the rest of the night. Smits completed 18 of 38 passes and was sacked seven times, including four times in the third quarter.

Jon Peckham scored on a five-yard run near the end of the first half and Alex Keats intercepted a pass and had a fumble recovery for Ventura (11-2), which outgained Agoura on the ground, 225 to 42. Lee Mondol carried seven times for 122 yards for the Cougars.

Mayar Zokaei

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Newport Harbor 24, Lakewood Mayfair 17 -- Alex Orth caught a 29-yard touchdown pass with 4.2 seconds left to lift the second-seeded Sailors to a stunning victory in a Division VI semifinal at Cerritos College.

The Sailors (12-0-1) had tied the score 21 seconds earlier on a 28-yard field goal by Travis Duffield and the game appeared headed to overtime. But senior running back DeShawndre Creighton of third-seeded Mayfair fumbled as he ran into the middle on Mayfair’s next play from scrimmage, and Taylor Young recovered at the Monsoon 29 with 12.7 seconds left.

Orth out-leaped three defenders for the ball, advancing the Sailors to the section final for the first time since 2000.

Mayfair (11-2) appeared headed for its first title game since 2001 when Sean Leistner kicked a 43-yard field goal with 3:20 left for a 17-14 lead, its first after falling behind, 14-0, in the second quarter.

-- Dan Arritt