Quarterback Keith "C.J." McCord’s five-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Christon with 3:02 left in the game proved to be the winning score. The ensuing defensive stand helped lead the Chargers to their first Division I Orange Bowl victory at any level since 2004.
Undefeated Orange Empire Conference champ Huntington Beach will now set out to earn the title of the best Junior Pee Wee team in Southern California. The Chargers face the Palomar Conference champion — either Torrey Pines or Carlsbad — in the Wescon Pop Warner regional semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday, at San Clemente High.
"Enjoy the heck out of this, because you earned it," Coach John Siebel told his team after topping previously unbeaten Cypress. "Now we’ve got two weeks to show that we’re the best team in Southern California. Expect a war, like today. It will be."
It was a war against Cypress, which built a 20-8 lead midway through the third quarter on Randall Gonzalez’s 13-yard touchdown run on an inside handoff.
"It was a battle," Chargers lineman Brandon Womble said. "It was hard because some plays they did counters and reverse. They faked it really well."
Yet Huntington Beach kept battling. McCord’s pass to Michael Bala went for 27 yards, then Sean Strom ran for 14 yards and Johnny Siebel caught a pass for nine yards as the Chargers moved the ball downfield. McCord then hooked up with Bala on a 12-yard touchdown slant over the middle, and after a Travis Burleson two-point kick, Huntington Beach had trimmed the deficit to 20-16 with under four minutes left in the third quarter.
"It was pretty hard, then it started getting easier when we got into the second half," Chargers linebacker DeMario Cobbins said. "They were slowing down."
