Serra turns turnovers into win over Oceanside at the Honor Bowl

For the second-straight week, Serra (Gardena, Calif.) earned a victory in San Diego County in a military-themed showcase event. And for the second-straight week, the Cavaliers recovered a kickoff downfield that led to an important touchdown.

How important was recovering that kickoff for the No. 11 team in the nation, according to the Xcellent 25? It pretty much put a seal on a 50-39 victory over Oceanside (Calif.) in the Honor Bowl, capping off a fourth-quarter comeback on the Pirates' home field.

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Serra jumped ahead 43-39 with 3:21 left in the game when Jalen Greene found a ridiculously wide-open Jordan Lasley for a 54-yard touchdown pass that put the lead back on the Cavaliers' side. Then they kicked off, somewhat of a high arching ball, and the Pirates let it bounce before they hesitated on retrieving the live ball near the 30-yard line. Serra's John Houston was the only white jersey in the area around four green ones, yet he came out with the possession.

That broke the Pirates' backs, as it gave Adoree' Jackson a chance to score from 7 yards out just 13 seconds later to forge the final score.

Turnovers told the story of a game that Oceanside led with just a few minutes left. The Pirates were generous with six giveaways, compared with one from Serra, and that killed the Pirates, the defending San Diego Section Division II champs and the No. 49 team in the nation in the MaxPreps Computer Rankings. They showed they could play just as good as the vaunted Cavs, but quarterback issues dogged them, as Matthew Romero had to leave the game for what appeared to be cramps and sophomore Dakota Miller took over.

Serra's Olajuwon Tucker intercepted three passes from the Oceanside quarterbacks and they were huge. The third made the victory a no-doubt situation with 2:37 left in the game, and the first came one play before Lasley scored on a 28-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter to make it 14-8.

Malachi Mageo also scored on an interception return with 2:22 left in the third quarter as well, and cut Oceanside's lead to 39-36. He recovered a fumble in the second quarter, too, as the Pirates were in the red zone.

It was a back-and-forth tussle all the way through the third quarter, with Oceanside leading 29-28 at the half, and 39-36 after three quarters. The fourth quarter, though, was all Serra - one week after coach Scott Altenberg lamented his team's performance in a 28-22 win over Desert Ridge (Mesa, Ariz.) in the Brothers in Arms Classic.

For Serra, Lasley caught three touchdown passes from Greene, who also ran for two scores.

For Oceanside, Jackson Koonce provided a spectacular highlight with a 52-yard field goal in the third quarter. Five different Pirates scored touchdowns.

The Honor Bowl will continue Saturday with St. Bonaventure (Ventura, Calif.) taking on Centennial (Corona, Calif.).