Oceanside ousted despite stellar defense

The last time Oceanside played a Washington-bound quarterback in the playoffs, it was a disaster as Jake Browning and Folsom burned the Pirates for 68 points in a state championship game.

Saturday, the Pirates kept 4-star recruit and Washington-bound Ethan Garbers, who came into the game with 4,622 yards and 66 TDs, in check until late in the third quarter.

That’s when he led his team on a pair of touchdown drives as Corona del Mar, ranked No. 3 in the state and No. 12 in the nation, scratched out a heart-stopping 14-7 win over the Pirates in the Southern California Regional 1-A playoffs.

Trailing by seven with 1:35 to play, Oceanside had a pass intercepted in the end zone, appearing to end the game.

On the next play, though, the Pirates recovered their fifth fumble of the game, this time at the Sea Kings 3 with 1:21 to play.

A first-down run by Kavika Tua lost 6 yards and another run gained 1. After an incomplete pass, Corona del Mar was called for pass interference on fourth down.

The penalty set the Pirates up at the 4 with a fourth and goal.

Oceanside put the ball in the hands of Tua — their best player — but he was stopped at the 1 on a sweep left.

Tua finished with 29 carries for 134 yards, scored Oceanside’s only TD on a 5-yard, third-quarter run, and made several key plays on defense.

Pirates quarterback Jakob Harris completed 17-of-27 passes for 108 yards. He was sacked five times.

Garbers completed 16-of-23 passes for 151 yards and a TD strike of 40 yards to Simon Hall. Garbers also scored the game-winning TD on a 1-yard sneak with 8:03 to play.

He also rushed nine times for 50 yards, including a game-clinching 24-yard run as the Pirates stacked the middle, looking for a strip, after not scoring from the 1.

The Pirates’ Tony Galeano, Taeden Washington and Cannon Belew recovering first-half fumbles to kill Corona del Mar drives.

Oceanside rolled up 136 yards in the first half and moved the ball well. However, they were call for four drive-killing holding penalties.

Garbers completed 10 of 15 first-half passes for 81. He had a 36-yard strike to Jacob Humphreys, who is bound for Stanford, to the Oceanside one. However, after an incomplete pass into the end zone, the defense pried the ball loose from Riley Binnquist with Galeano recovering.

Corona del Mar advances to play San Mateo Serra, which beat San Joaquin Memorial, for the state 1-A title. That game is Saturday at 4 p.m. at Cerritos College.

Oceanside---------------------------------- 0 0 7 0 - 7

Corona del Mar--------------------------- 0 0 7 7 - 14

O - Tua 5 run (Marton kick)

C - Hall 40 pass from Garbers (Voorhees kick)

C - Garbers 1 run (Voohees kick)

john.maffei@sduniontribune.com