Musketeers upended in topsy-turvy title game
Last-second field goal beats MHS
By Stephen Dorman sdorman@theacorn.com

MIKE COONS/Acorn Newspapers SHOWSTOPPER—Anthony King of Canyon High, No. 20, flips Moorpark runner Zach Trottier during Saturday’s CIF Northern Division championship game at the Home Depot Center. Canyon won 24-22.

Looking beyond the bottom line, Moorpark High head coach Tim Lins had a reason to smile.

The Musketeers had just dropped a 24-22 heartbreaker to Canyon High in the CIFSouthern Section Northern Division championship game at the Home Depot Center in Carson.

As Lins and senior wide receiver Josh Smith slowly exited the field, the coach’s demeanor was cool, calm and collected, so much so that it was difficult to decipher if his team had won or lost the game.

“It was a fun ride and a great season,” Lins said. “I’m really proud of our kids. I know they’re disappointed—I am, too—but they did a great job for us this year.”

The final frenetic moments of the championship matchup will live forever in Moorpark football lore.

Trailing 2115 with 3:56 remaining in the fourth quarter, MHS took possession of the ball at its own 36-yard line.

Photos by MIKE COONS/Acorn Newspapers HIGHS AND LOWS—Above, MHS wideout Nick Karam hauls in a 13-yard touchdown pass from Adam Barry to put Moorpark up 22-21 with 1:15 remaining in the fourth quarter. Below, Moorpark’s Alec Mott, left, consoles teammate John Martinez after Canyon converted the game-winning field goal with seconds on the clock.

Musketeer quarterback Adam Barry connected with Smith for an 11-yard gain on the first play of the drive. Following a 3-yard run by Darrell Scott, Barry completed consecutive passes to Ryan Murry and Nick Karam to get Moorpark down to the Canyon 26-yard line.

After Scott ran for no gain and Barry threw an incompletion, MHS was faced with a thirdand10. On the ensuing third-down play, Canyon was called for pass interference, giving the Musketeers a new set of downs.

On second down from the Cowboy 13-yard line, Barry found Karam open in the middle of the end zone for a touchdown with 1:15 remaining on the clock.

When Arturo Tamayo converted the extra-point attempt, Moorpark had its first lead of the game, 22-21, with 75 seconds left to play.

“The offense was amazing on the last drive,” said Barry, who finished 11-of-17 passing for 140 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Barry also scored a rushing touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.

“Afterwards, I went to the sidelines and saw that there was over a minute left,” Barry said. “Anything can happen in a minute, and it did.”

In the excitement immediately preceding the go-ahead score, Karam said he was still apprehensive about celebrating too early.

“I knew we were overreacting,” said Karam, who had three catches for 38 yards. “It was a good play, but we still had to get back on defense, which we didn’t.

“We thought we won the game, but we let the fans down.”

When Canyon got the ball back, it only took the Cowboys a few plays to march deep into Musketeer territory.

On fourth-and-goal from the Moorpark 1yard line with 9.8 seconds remaining on the clock, Canyon place kicker Chris Chapman booted an 18-yard field goal that snuck just inside the left upright, putting Canyon up 24-22.

Moorpark was unable to get out of bounds before the clock expired on the kickoff. Just like that, the Musketeers’ season had ended.

“It’s probably one of the most emotional things in my life,” MHS linebacker Zach Trottier said. “All the work I put in, all the years I played football, all the hits I made . . . even though you make it to the final game, it’s almost like you accomplished nothing.”

When given time to reflect, Trottier changed his tune.

“Now that I look back on the season and see how close we came,” he said, “we accomplished a lot. We did a lot more than other people, other teams and the newspapers anticipated. This was supposed to be a blowout.”

With Scott bottled up for much of the game—he gained 118 yards on 29 carries and scored once—it was Barry who took control of the Musketeer offense.

“They had two guys on me the whole time,” said Scott, who was recently named the Ventura County Coaches Association Offensive Player of the Year.

“They were keying on me, but Adam and our receivers really stepped up and played well,” Scott said.

The junior signal-caller led his team back from a 217 thirdquarter deficit. His 1-yard touchdown run at the 6:15 mark of the fourth quarter was equal parts skill and determination, with Barry carrying several would-be tacklers into the end zone.

Barry’s touchdown was capped by an improbably twopoint conversion by tight end Jake Lins. On the play, MHS lined up for an extra-point attempt but the snap sailed over Lins’ head. He scooped up the ball, rolled to his left and heaved a pass into Murry’s waiting arms.

Rather than trail by eight points, the Musketeers were only down by six. The Lins-to-Murry pass helped set up the unbelievable finish.

“Sometimes things don’t happen right and you’ve got to make the best of it,” Jake Lins said. “I trusted my teammate to catch the ball.”

Although they walked away without a championship banner, Moorpark’s season was, as Coach Lins said, an incredible ride.

The Musketeers won 11 games and qualified for their second consecutive CIF-SS title game. Scott set the school’s single-season rushing record with 3,194 yards and five players made the allcounty first or secondteam list.

“It was a great team, an amazing team,” Jake Lins said. “We played our hearts out and we came together as a team. It was a really good experience for everyone involved.”