Mayfair football tops Village Christian in overtime with back-to-back big plays
BELLFLOWER — Mayfair quarterback Jeremiah Calvin had a rare opportunity Friday in the CIF-Southern Section Division 7 playoff opener: Make two plays, both to keep his team’s title hopes alive.
He made both a touchdown pass and a 2-point conversion completion, back-to-back, to help Mayfair defeat Village Christian 39-38 in overtime.
Calvin was ready.
“Just keep your composure and trust in my guy,” he said. “I loved that coach had trust in me and I had to come through. In my mind it was just, ‘Make the play, make something happen.’”
Calvin completed 19 of 28 passes for 241 yards and four touchdowns. He threw one interception. Chaz Gilbreath caught nine passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns. CJ Johnson led the Mayfair ground attack, rushing for a touchdown and 141 yards on 22 carries.
Village Christian jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter on a Jaden Rogers 33-yard field goal and a Zavontae Flournoy-Trice 49-yard touchdown run.
Flournoy-Trice led the Crusaders with 247 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. Chase Everett completed 13 of 26 passes for 132 yards. He also threw an interception. Lucas Lehman caught four passes for 68 yards and a touchdown.
Mayfair (8-3, 3-2) then scored four times unanswered, first on a Rocco Mercado 38-yard field goal and touchdown passes to Calvin Gilbreath and Gerald Myles III and a run from Johnson for a 23-10 lead.
Village Christian (7-4, 3-2) retook the lead on touchdown passes from Everett to Lehman and Zoe Ololade for a 24-23 lead.
After a fourth-quarter Village Christian interception, Gilbreath snagged his own, tip-toeing along the sideline to get Mayfair the ball back with under 7 minutes left.
Mayfair later scored on a 24-yard touchdown pass to Gilbreath with 6:18 left to take a 31-24 lead.
After a Mayfair roughing the kicker penalty gave Village Christian new life, they scored on a Matt Keller 2-yard touchdown run with 2:39 left in regulation.
Village Christian later missed a 33-yard field goal attempt with seconds left to bring on overtime.
The Crusaders won the toss and scored on an 8-yard-run from Flournoy-Trice for a 38-31 lead.
Mayfair’s fate was decided on a gamble by Bedell. On third down from the Crusader 26, Calvin connected with Max Mitchell for a touchdown that brought the score to 38-37 Crusaders.
Bedell rolled the dice on a 2-point conversion rather than an extra point to tie. Calvin and Gilbreath rewarded his faith, scoring on a 2-yard pass to win the game 39-38.
Bedell’s decision was as much practical as it was a gut feeling.
“I think it came down to, we’re banged up,” Bedell said. “I thought we had some momentum from scoring that touchdown on a big play and why not try to finish it now.”