The Saxons of North Torrance came, they played 48 minutes of football, they went home extremely happy.

They went home happy because the guy who threw their passes stymied St. Joseph's last pass play.

Cornerback-quarterback Lyle Moevao's huge defensive play preserved the Saxons' 21-18 win over the Knights in a CIF Southern Section Division X semifinal game at a packed Al Maguire Field Friday night.

On fourth down-and-five from the North Torrance nine, Moevao stopped Ryan Adlesh for no gain on a Casey Cathcart pass. Quarterback Moevao then ran out the clock with three kneel downs.

"He's been great against the pass all year," North Torrance coach Todd Croce said of Moevao.

The second-ranked Saxons (12-1-0) will play the Encino Crespi-Lompoc winner in the final Dec. 10. Fourth-ranked Crespi and top-rated Lompoc play at Lompoc High School's Huyck Stadium at 7:30 tonight. Third-rated St. Joseph wound up 11-2-0.

If Lompoc wins tonight, North Torrance is the host team for the title game. If Crespi prevails, Crespi will be the host team.

Advertisement

"Our kids never quit," St. Joseph coach Barney Eames said after a fine Knights season ended in the semifinals for the second consecutive year. "They showed a lot of heart."

The Knights did indeed battle hard. They answered twice after being down by two scores, first 14-3 and then 21-11. North Torrance tailback Ruddy Irving, however, scored the game-winning touchdown on a five-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter, his second touchdown of the game.

Tom Sua pulled the Knights within 21-17 when he dragged Saxons defenders into the end zone on a 6-yard run with 9:46 left. Scott Chenoweth kicked the extra point.

Irving, behind a quick, tough offensive line, racked up 212 yards on 28 carries. A lot of those yards came thanks to his line's blocking. Irving earned a lot of those yards on his own, too.

"We hadn't seen a back like that all year," said Eames.

Ben Streeter reached high to grab a pass in the back of the end zone despite a shove from Torrance defensive back Robert Collins. That pulled St. Joseph within 14-9 in the third quarter, and then Kevin Buchanan caught Casey Cathcart's two-point conversion pass.

But Streeter dropped the potential winning touchdown pass in the end zone on a toss from Cathcart from the North Torrance 27 on third down. The Knights stayed alive when Buchanan caught a 13-yard pass from Cathcart on the next play.

Then the Saxons stopped two running plays after short gains, and then the Knights didn't get the pass interference call they were hoping for when Buchanan was knocked down in the end zone as the ball went by him.

The Knights eschewed a field goal try with 1:11 to play. Moevao "saw (the play) coming," Croce said, and Moevao nailed Adlesh. North Torrance declined an illegal motion penalty against St. Joseph.

"Casey was hot, we had worked on a special fourth down play and we were going to go for the win right there," said Eames.

"And we didn't want to go into overtime with these guys. They were real physical, and we were struggling some with that."

The Knights did get a better handle on the tough Saxons running game late in the game. In fact, linebacker Philip Adam and defensive back Brad Escobar gave the Knights a chance to win when they stopped Dionte Harvey for no gain on fourth-down-and-one from the St. Joseph 38 with 5:18 to play.

"Our defense did a heck of a job to come up with that stop," said Eames.

The Knights were behind the rest of the way after scoring first. Chenoweth's 28-yard field goal try was good after fluttering just inside the right upright.

St. Joseph drove 54 yards. Then the Saxons stiffened, and the Knights settled for three points.

Jarrel Stacy returned the kickoff 36 yards to St. Joseph's 47, and the Saxons didn't waste much time scoring. Irving carried on seven of the eight North Torrance plays and took care of the last 14 yards on a run around right end.

Ruben Caputo kicked the extra point, and that was the end of the scoring for the first half.

In the second half, Cathcart took advantage of the 6-3 Buchanan going against the much shorter North Torrance secondary. Buchanan made all three of his receptions in the second half.

"They'd done a good job against our run, and we knew we would have to throw," Eames said. "The kids did a good job of taking advantage of the mismatches we had," on pass plays.

North Torrance lineman Chris Grogan, linebacker Mike Jones and defensive backs Kash Ware and Irving led the surge as the Saxons stifled the Knights' offense the rest of the half after Chenoweth's field goal.

Meanwhile, linebackers Adam and Brandon Merlo and defensive linemen Zachary Sternjacob and Ryan San Juan led a Knights surge that contained the Saxons until intermission after Irving's score.

But the Saxons' running game in general and Irving in particular perked up again after halftime. North Torrance scored its first two possessions after halftime.

The first touchdown, ironically enough, came on a fourth-and-five pass play from Moevao to Jesse Gonzalez from 14 yards out.

"We knew it was going to be close," said Croce. "They're a lot like the team we lost to in our season opener, Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach)." Mira Costa plays in Division III.

Dec. 4, 2004