Late TD pass lifts Dominguez past Santa Ana in football playoffs

COMPTON >> The Dominguez shot squad had excessively overmuch velocity and utilized it to marque excessively galore large plays, sprinting past Santa Ana and into the CIF Southern Section Division 6 semifinals for the archetypal clip successful a twelve years.

Ormanie Arnold’s 85-yard dash up the close sideline with a Jordan Ford walk 2 minutes into the 4th fourth provided the Dons their sixth pb successful a back-and-forth battle, and they held connected for a 40-34 triumph.

The Dons (10-2) volition play astatine Newport Harbor (5-7) successful the semifinals connected Friday, Nov. 19.

Dominguez piled up 629 yards of offense, a bully woody of it connected 7 plays of 30 oregon much yards, including touchdowns covering 77, 30, 64 and 40 yards earlier Arnold’s winning jaunt.

Ford completed 13 of 20 passes for 258 yards and 3 TDs, Taylor Woods ran for 155 yards and 2 agelong scores connected 8 carries, and Arnold totaled 222 yards of conscionable 10 touches, 135 of that connected 8 rushes.

“We’re a big-play shot team, we’ve got big-play athletes, and it’s hard to tackle america successful unfastened field,” said caput manager Deon Toliver, who led the Dons into the playoffs for the archetypal clip since 2015. “I haven’t been this far, and nary of these guys person been this far, truthful it’s exciting. Now we’ve got to decorativeness it off.”

Santa Ana (8-3) ran for 280 yards but struggled to determination aerially against the Dons’ standout secondary. Jason Costa had 183 yards connected 18 carries, including s 58-yard sprint to acceptable up his 1-yard TD astatine the commencement of the 4th fourth to propulsion Santa Ana adjacent 34-34.

“They person a batch of speed, and we saw it each existent accelerated tonight,” Saints manager Charlie TeGantvoort said. “Unfortunately, we conscionable fell short. One little score. … Dominguez has a peculiar group, and I deliberation they’re going to spell each the way.”

Jesus Olvera’s 23-yard tract extremity gave Santa Ana a 20-19 pb connected the last play of the archetypal half. Dominguez went up connected its archetypal possession (on a Cieonta Davis reception), the Saints responded with a 74-yard thrust (and 14-yard Costa TD), past went up connected Olvera’s archetypal tract extremity precocious successful the opening quarter.

Dominguez was up again aft its archetypal large play — Ford deed Bilal Mussadiq implicit the mediate adjacent midfield, and the receiver was gone for a 77-yard people — but Saints regained the pb connected the archetypal of 2 Sergio Torres-to-Imanol Torres TD passes. A 30-yard Arnold tally had Dominguez up again until Olvera’s kick.

The Dons struck rapidly successful the 2nd half, with Woods streaking 64 yards connected their archetypal violative play and Cyrus Finnie adding a 2-point conversion run.

Sergio Torres, who threw for 105 yards passing and ran for 96 yards connected 18 carries, deed Imanol Torres again to necktie the people astatine 27, and past Ford’s 18- and 20-yard runs acceptable up a 40-yard Woods touchdown and different seven-point edge.

Costa’s agelong TD run, aft Kevin Sanchez collected a fumble connected the Saints 28, evened things again, but Dominguez was up again conscionable 14 seconds later, erstwhile Ford threw to the sideline to commencement the drive, and Arnold took off.

The Dons are aiming for their archetypal CIF title since winning back-to-back titles successful 2005-06.

“We’ve been moving each play for this,” Arnold said. “It’s been a infinitesimal since (we won CIF) — it’s been a infinitesimal since we’ve been successful the playoffs — but this is what hard enactment volition do. It puts you successful a spot you privation to beryllium in.”