Dobson's Late Catch Saves St. Bernard

The end of Friday night's game will stick in the minds of St. Bernard High players for the rest of their lives, and it's a good thing because head coach Larry Muno claimed he might burn the film after witnessing what he described as "the ugliest game I've ever seen."

Sure, it had an abundance of penalties, dropped passes, turnovers (four by each team) and wacky plays, but it ended in euphoria. Ryan Dobson caught a 21-yard touchdown pass with just 15 seconds remaining as the Vikings pulled off an unlikely comeback to shock Cerritos Valley Christian 30-27 in their home opener Friday night in Playa del Rey.

"Oh my gosh, Dobson played phenomenal," an almost speechless Muno said moments after the thrilling victory. "I knew [that play] was going to be there... it was the perfect call."

After catching Christian Smith's pass, Dobson was able to reach over the plane of the goal line with the ball, just inside the left pylon.

"It was a high-low right and they switched me with another receiver to come on this side," Dobson, a junior wideout, said of the winning play. "It feels great!"

Dobson's heroics saved Smith from a week's worth of nightmares after the senior quarterback lost a handle on the ball and watched in horror as it was recovered by senior linebacker Zach D'amico and returned 30 yards for a touchdown that gave the visiting Crusaders a 27-23 lead with 52 seconds left.

"When I fumbed the ball I was like 'This was not the time for this to happen,'" Smith said of his costly miscue. "Coach [Muno] said 'It's not over yet, we still got 50 seconds left.' You just have to play the whole game."

With the nonleague victory the Vikings matched their win total from last season when they were sixth out of seven teams in the Del Rey League and missed the playoffs under former coach Greg Dixon. 

"Big-time players make big-time plays and I told Christian that the game was not over," recalled Muno, in his first season at St. Bernard after piloting St. Monica to a league championship last fall. "Fifty-two seconds is a lot of time to win a game."

It proved to be plenty of time for St. Bernard, which drove 80 yards with time to spare.

Smith threw three touchdown passes--the first a 33-yarder to Chris Mack in the third quarter and the second a 68-yarder to Joshua Hill early in the fourth quarter that gave the Vikings a seemingly-secure 23-14 lead. Hill had scored St. Bernard's first touchdown on a flukish 30-yard punt return after the ball deflected off the helmet of one of the Crusaders' offensive lineman.

"All of the kids showed intestinal fortitude," Muno said. "To be down like that and come back is amazing. It wasn't a good game technically, but it was a good game for the kids because they showed they have heart and they can fight."

Valley Christian quarterback Patrick Avila threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Bynum but that pulled the Crusaders to within 23-20 and set the stage for a frantic finish.

"It was a great game, it was incredible... I did not think that would happen, but we just have to believe," Vikings senior lineman Adrian Gonzalez said. "As soon as it [Smith's fumble] happened, I was in shock, but we believed and we came back. You gotta' believe."

St. Bernard scored the first points of the game on a safety in the first quarter when an errant snap sailed through the back of the end zone. Avila's one-yard keeper gave the Crusaders a 7-2 lead and they came within one yard of scoring twice in the second quarter, but turned the ball over on downs and had leading rusher Jaylen Raye lose a fumble.

The Vikings weren't exactly lighting up the scoreboard either and still trailed by five points at halftime.

"We were making mistakes in the first half, then into the second half and we were trying to correct them," St. Bernard offensive line coach Ricardo Camacho said. "We haven't really played as a team in all four quarters and once we do there's nobody stopping us. We have to look at it as a stepping stone. It builds character, that's what we've been doing the last couple of weeks and we're going to continue to do that."

The Vikings, who entered the game ranked ninth in the CIF Southern Section Northwest Division poll, had rallied in the second half to beat View Park Prep of the L.A. City Section, 20-13, the week before.

"I think every week is a wake-up call, these great kids right here... this is what high school football is all about," Muno said. "Hats off to Valley Christian, they came out here and played an awesome game. We've got a lot of work to do. That was the sloppiest game I've ever been involved in--and the most exciting as well."

Smith is the reigning league passing leader, having thrown for 2,171 yards and 24 touchdowns last fall. He already has eight touchdowns this season while Dobson's touchdown catch was his third of the year.

Score by Quarters

1

2

3

4

Final

Valley Christian

7

0

7

13

St. Bernard

2

0

14

14

30

Scoring Summary

St. Bernard -- Safety (ball snapped out of end zone)

Valley Christian -- Avila 1 run (Martinez kick)

St. Bernard -- Hill 30 punt return (Rivas kick)

St. Bernard -- Mack 33 pass from Smith (Rivas kick)

Valley Christian -- Raye 16 run (Martinez kick)

St. Bernard -- Hill 68 pass from Smith (Rivas kick)

Valley Christian -- Bynum 6 pass from Avila (run failed)

Valley Christian -- D'amico 30 fumble return (Martinez kick)

St. Bernard -- Dobson 22 pass from Smith (Rivas kick)

Records: Valley Christian 0-3; St. Bernard 3-0.