ESCONDIDO -- One starting quarterback spent most of the second half prone on a trainer's table, trying to shake what appeared to be a stubborn case of the cramps.

The other had a nasty gash on his chin that had to be glued shut at halftime, then stitched together after the game.

Coming off a frightening Friday night injury to a Mission Hills High football player still in a coma and struggling to survive, it was a weird and downright dangerous afternoon Saturday at Escondido High.

Mt. San Antonio and Palomar, two of the nation's top junior college football teams, squared off in a matchup that was supposed to be all about the return of legendary ex-Palomar coach Tom Craft and the showcasing of his pass-happy offensive schemes employed by both teams.

But with about 6 minutes left in Palomar's eventual 31-23 victory, Kevin Craft, Tom's son and Mt. SAC's quarterback, was hauled from the sidelines to the parking lot on a stretcher.

Emergency vehicles are a required part of the setup at football games, as necessary as goalposts and hash marks. In many ways they are like referees, the less they are seen and heard the better.

But when Kevin Craft was loaded into an ambulance and taken to Palomar Hospital, what was supposed to be a fun afternoon took a hard turn toward scary.

"It looked like it was total body cramps," said a concerned Tom Craft, Mt. SAC's first-year offensive coordinator, as he hustled to the parking lot after the game so he could follow his son to the hospital.

"It just kept getting worse. They wanted to take him in before they administered anything."

Palomar hospital officials said later in the evening that Kevin Craft, a former Valley Center High star who was San Diego State's leading passer last season, was receiving fluids intravenously, resting comfortably and likely to be released by morning.

Palomar College's quarterback, Hunter Wanket, escaped serious injury, too. He had about four stitches sewn into his chin after the game while laying on a sideline trainer's table and surrounded by a half-dozen curious onlookers. This, after being told the cut wasn't something, as he suggested, "could be taken care of tomorrow."

Yeah, it was a tough day for the quarterbacks.

Even Mt. SAC backup Dominic Salmon couldn't escape unscathed. He entered early in the second half after Craft went down and completed just 6 of 20 passes for 63 yards. Mixed in those totals were an interception and array of throws that went high, low, short, long and wide.

Salmon's psyche, although bruised, also will recover.

As bad as the coaches and players on both sides wanted to win Saturday, everyone had their priorities in order. Palomar's celebration was subdued. The hugs and handshakes were sincere.

It was, after all, just a game.

"I told these guys that their safety and health is the most important," said Mt. SAC coach Bob Jastrab after his team fell to 2-1 and Palomar improved to 3-0. "I just hope we get another chance to play each other."

Palomar coach Joe Early, who for years was a defensive coordinator under Craft before taking over as head coach in 2002, also was part of the caravan headed to the hospital after the game.

"My family has known their family forever," Early said. "My wife still cuts their kids' hair. We all think of each other as brothers."

If the postgame felt like a family reunion, the on-field action looked like an intrasquad scrimmage.

Both teams employed the spread offense Craft honed during his 16 seasons as head coach of the Comets. And offense that earned him a 115-56-1 record, three community college state championships, three mythical national championships and one not-so-successful stint as San Diego State's head coach.

There were shovel passes and wide receiver screens and deep balls galore, with Craft and Wanket, who was sharp in completing, 11 of 25 passes for 226 yards, both looking at times like the second coming of John Elway.

There were mistakes, too. The most damaging miscue started with a sack of Craft that forced a fumble recovered by Palomar's Andrew Sugg in the end zone.

And of course, there were the injuries.

"You understand that that's the game of football, but you never want to see that," Early said about Kevin Craft's cramping and dehydration.

Sports editor Loren Nelson can be reached at (760) 740-3551 or lnelson@nctimes.com.