It’s Never Too Late for Some Victories

As Agoura players, fans and coaches came onto the field Friday night to celebrate their apparent victory, Jeff Rapoport of Westlake Village Westlake ran through them -- at one time brushing the jacket of Charger Coach Charlie Wegher -- for the winning touchdown in a 30-27 Marmonte League stunner.

Twenty-two years after a Stanford trombone player was bowled over by a California ballcarrier, the Bay Area college classic and highlight reel favorite has a high school cousin.

In all, four players carried the ball on the kickoff return, a play that Westlake Coach Jim Benkert called “a fluke.”

Agoura (3-3, 1-2 in league) had taken a 27-24 lead with 4.2 seconds left on J.T. Wright’s 29-yard field goal but was penalized 15 yards on the ensuing kickoff for excessive celebration. That helped shorten the field for Westlake (3-3, 2-1).

Garrett Carpenter fielded the kickoff at about the Westlake 40. He lateraled to Jason Berg, who fumbled it to Sean Gittens, who, while being tackled, blindly lateraled over his shoulder to Rapoport.

When Gittens “got lit up” by a tackler, according to Benkert, people came off the Agoura sideline thinking the game was over.

Rapoport scooped up the ball and weaved his way 55 yards through about 20 fans, making a cut at the 10-yard line to avoid the final two tacklers.

Wegher thought Berg had been tackled, which would have ended the game. “You can’t tell if there was a whistle because it was so loud,” Wegher said, conceding that on the videotape “nothing showed definitively that he was down.”

Officials huddled and, about a minute later, signaled a touchdown.

Among those who saw the play on television was Kevin Moen, the California player who scored against Stanford and leveled the trombonist in the end zone. It’s the first time he has seen the play work.

“You need a lot of random luck in place, and then you need a band,” said Moen, a real estate broker in Rolling Hills Estates. “I’ve seen a lot of people try to do it. This group is one of the few that turned it into a positive.

“In a desperation moment, why get tackled with the ball? You might as well do something with it.”

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There are no more unbeaten teams in the Sierra League after the league openers Friday.

Brandon Bryan caught a nine-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Crook with 14 seconds left to give Glendora (5-1) a 22-15 victory over Chino Hills (5-1).

Corey Attaway had three touchdown receptions to help Chino (5-1) score a 48-22 victory over Diamond Bar (4-2). In the game, Chino quarterback Aaron Garcia broke his left collarbone, but he could return in two weeks.

The team to watch may be La Verne Damien (1-5), which defeated Chino Hills Ayala, 12-7. Alex Thompson intercepted two fourth-quarter passes, one setting up the winning touchdown.

Damien’s five nonleague opponents -- Hacienda Heights Los Altos, Covina Charter Oak, Claremont, La Puente Bishop Amat and Bellflower St. John Bosco -- are a combined 20-10.

“They had a very tough schedule,” said Chino Coach John Monger, whose team shared the league title with Damien the last two seasons. “They’ll do fine.”

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South Pasadena is off to its best start in decades. The Tigers, who last won a league title in 1975, are 5-0-1 despite having only five returning players from last season’s 6-3-1 team.

“Part of the success of this is scheduling,” Coach Ed Smith said. “The teams we’ve been playing haven’t been as good as they have been in the past. We’re about the same as we’ve always been.”

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Since they began playing each other in 1999, each of the games between Temecula Valley and Temecula Chaparral has been decided by seven or fewer points.

This season, Melvin Blackmon passed to Steven McKnight for a 14-yard touchdown with 10 seconds left to give Temecula Valley a 23-16 Southwestern League victory.

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Three dots and a cloud of dust: Harbor City Narbonne got 227 yards rushing and five touchdowns from Travon Titus in a 43-24 Marine League victory, the Gauchos’ first over San Pedro since 1983....Rialto Eisenhower trailed, 36-8, with 9:31 left in the third quarter but rallied for four touchdowns -- three by running back Jahmel Rover -- and four two-point conversions to beat Fontana Miller, 40-36, in a Citrus Belt League game. Rover’s final score came with 1:02 remaining.... La Puente Bassett rushed for 396 yards in its 40-0 Montview League victory over Azusa. Jonathan Nunez accounted for 211 of the yards with three touchdowns.... Malibu, which won four games each of the last two years and none in 2001, improved to 5-1 after its 43-14 victory over Cantwell-Sacred Heart, as Andrew Heric rushed 35 times for 352 yards.... Santa Ana Mater Dei had seven sacks in its 7-6 Serra League victory over Santa Margarita, two each by James Brunt and Derreck Mackie.