TEMECULA ---- Peter Keks had lined up for a handful of field goal attempts all year. With Chaparral's playoff future in limbo, the moment didn't get the best of the soccer-player-turned kicker Friday night.
Keks' 25-yard field goal sailed through the uprights as time expired, sending the Pumas' sideline into a frenzy and capping a furious fourth-quarter comeback for a 36-33 victory over visiting Corona Roosevelt in the CIF Southern Section Inland Division playoff opener.
"This ranks right up there with any of our wins," said Chaparral defensive coordinator Ryan Tukua, whose team will host top-seeded Redlands East Valley next week. " ... That was a perfect team victory. We were selling out and Roosevelt was selling out on every play ---- that's what made it so much fun."
Jonathan Diaz tallied three scores and 116 yards of total offense ---- including a 36-yard touchdown grab from Mitch Glasmann to tie the game at 33 with 4:04 left ---- and Antoine Arnold picked off Harold Mobley's third-and-8 heave intended for Austin Hill to set up the makings of a game-winning drive that put the finishing touches on a game the Pumas trailed, 27-13, 7 seconds into the fourth quarter.
From their own 45 with 3:03 left, the Pumas (8-3) carried the ball eight times down to the Mustangs' 8 before Chaparral coach Tom Leach called a timeout with 2.6 seconds left and Keks looking at a 25-yard attempt from middle of the hashmarks thanks to Diaz's final 6-yard run. Even with one converted field goal all year, Keks didn't let the moment faze him for long.
"I was nervous, absolutely," Keks said. "I just had to stay calm and stay focused. I knew it was good from the moment it left my foot."
Indeed it was. Keks lifted his arms in triumph as the ball sailed between the posts and jumped into the arms of Randy Patterson, who carried the part-time kicker to a jubilant sideline as several Mustangs dropped to their knees in a heap of tears.
As Roosevelt coach Bill Stacy exchanged a brief embrace from Leach ---- who told the Mustangs coach "it was a game for the ages" ---- he took inventory of the emotions swirling after his team's second first-round loss in as many years.
"It hurts," he said. "It hurts more than any other loss so far."
Especially given the Division I talent that the Mustangs used in building its lead Friday night.
Tyler Slavin caught touchdown passes of 47 and 24 yards and Hill's 68-yard touchdown run on a reverse gave the Mustangs a 33-26 lead after Roosevelt failed to convert their second extra-point attempt of the night. But Diaz ---- who also intercepted Mobley in the game ---- scored quickly on a 36-yard catch-and-run after Glasmann slipped out of collapsing pocket to find his running back down field for the game-tying score and Arnold picked off Mobley to give the Pumas a chance to win the game in regulation.
The Valley's leading receiver, Arnold battled cramps and was in and out of the lineup in the second half of his nine-catch, 99-yard performance. Seeing his first significant reps in the secondary against the Mustangs' tall receivers, Arnold, of course, made sure he was on the field to help lead the Pumas, who outscored Roosevelt, 23-13, in the final quarter.
"I can't let my teammates down ---- no matter what," Arnold said. "I couldn't sit this one out."
