Newbury Park football wins battle with San Clemente in CIF-SS quarterfinals

SAN CLEMENTE — Entering Friday, no team had taken the lead against Newbury Park’s football team this season.

San Clemente had the lead twice, but fell to Newbury Park 24-13 in a CIF-SS Division 2 quarterfinal game at San Clemente High.

Newbury Park (12-0) entered the game as one of just four undefeated teams in the Southern Section. The Panthers will host Yorba Linda in the semifinals next week.

San Clemente (6-6) was an at-large team from the Alpha League. The Tritons beat Damien of La Verne in the first round.

“The kids have played some really tough teams this year and I give them credit,” San Clemente coach Jaime Ortiz said. “After we lost to Mission Viejo (in the Alpha League), it could have been woe is us, but the kids battled back and beat two good teams.”

San Clemente led 7-3 at halftime and 13-10 entering the fourth quarter. Newbury Park kept its composure and regained control of the game in the fourth quarter.

“It’s unbelievable. We were ready for adversity,” Newbury Park coach Joe Smigiel said. “That is culture. When you’re a family, you don’t point fingers, you stay strong and get after people. That’s what we did.”

Newbury Park regained the lead early in the fourth quarter on a 68-yard touchdown pass from Brady Smigiel to Drew Cofield to take a 17-13 lead.

Smigiel, who is battling an injury he suffered in the first round against San Jacinto, threw for 210 yards with a touchdown and ran for a touchdown.

“A lot of kids’ dreams are to play college football and the NFL. My dream since I was a kid was to play Newbury Park football,” Smigiel said. “I was a ball boy here. To be able to come out here, my dad is the head coach, my brother is a receiver, it really is a dream come true.”

“I don’t talk about my son very much, but I’m so proud of him for a lot of reasons,” Coach Smigiel said. “He wasn’t himself tonight and they knew it. He just battled. To see what he did through adversity and being at maybe 60 percent, this is a time I’ll talk about him and how proud I am.”

There were three turnovers in five plays in the fourth quarter. Newbury Park hit San Clemente quarterback Jack Ferguson which caused the ball to pop up and Balen Betancourt intercepted a pass.

Two plays later, San Clemente defensive lineman Theo Preisler recovered a fumble to give the Tritons the ball back. On the ensuing play, Cofield intercepted a deep pass to give the ball back to Newbury Park.

“We had momentum on our side and they took it back over,” Ortiz said. “You play a quality team like that, you only get so many chances. They capitalized in the second half and made some good plays.”

Smigiel led Newbury Park on a 5-minute scoring drive and ran for a 3-yard touchdown to put the game away with one minute remaining.

“That’s the best defense we’ve seen this season and probably the best defense I have faced in my career,” Brady Smigiel said. “The coaches prepare us for adversity. I would compare our practices to boot camp. It’s not the most fun thing in the world, but it’s sure worth it when you come back and beat a good San Clemente team.”

Jack Ferguson threw for 235 yards with a touchdown for San Clemente. Cole Herlean had 128 yards receiving with a touchdown and Colin Kohl ran for 80 yards with a score.

Newbury Park opened the game with a six-minute drive that ended with a 33-yard field goal by Bohdie Ing to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead.

San Clemente took the lead late in the second quarter on an 80-yard touchdown pass from Ferguson to Herlean to put the Tritons in front 7-3 at halftime.

The play was the first touchdown Newbury Park had allowed in four games dating back to October 10 against Calabasas and the first time the Panthers trailed this season.

Smigiel made an option pitch to Shane Rosenthal for a touchdown midway through the third quarter.

On the final play of the fourth quarter, Kohl picked up a bobbled pitch and ran the opposite direction for a 3-yard touchdown run which gave the Tritons a 13-10 lead.

Blake Bryce, Michael Guzman and Carter Taylor had sacks for Newbury Park.

Lee Puka Fuimaono had an interception in the second quarter for San Clemente. The turnover was just the third interception of the season for Smigiel.

Ferguson converted a big fourth down on a 20-yard pass to Max Kotiranta which led to the touchdown run by Kohl.