ALISO VIEJO — Aliso Niguel’s football team will have to wait a bit longer to end its long wait for a return to the CIF-SS semifinals.
On a rainy night with plenty of miscues, the Wolverines fell to La Serna 10-7 Friday in the CIF-SS Division 5 quarterfinals at Aliso Niguel High.
Aliso Niguel (8-4) has not reached the CIF-SS semifinals since 1996, the year the Wolverines won their lone championship. The Wolverines have reached the quarterfinals six times since then.
“I could not be more proud of our team for playing 11 straight games after having to move our bye,” Aliso Niguel coach Michael Calahan said. “Everything we’ve gone through this year, playing hurt, guys coming back, they never waivered.”
La Serna (9-3) has reached the semifinals for the third consecutive season. The Lancers won the Division 4 championship in 2023 and reached the Division 5 championship in 2024. La Serna will play Rio Hondo Prep on the road in the semifinals next week.
La Serna coach Andy George said he had never seen a game like the one his team won Friday. The Lancers lost the turnover battle 5-1, but managed to keep Aliso Niguel off the scoreboard in the second half despite the Wolverines having three opportunities in the red zone.
Sophomore Nathan Christensen recovered a big fumble for La Serna with just under four minutes left in the game to stifle a promising drive by Aliso Niguel.
“I’ve never seen anything like that as far as turnovers and problems with the snap, but those were the elements tonight and we had to persevere,” George said. “It was about who didn’t make mistakes at the end and once we put points on the board, I knew our defense would hold tight.”
Landon Armenta made the game-winning field goal for La Serna with 6:39 remaining in the game.
“I trusted my defense so much,” Armenta said. “There was no doubt in my mind that they were going to stop their offense after that and keep it together.”
Aliso Niguel had many opportunities to take a lead in the third quarter. The Wolverines recovered four fumbles on La Serna’s first five plays of the second half. Corey Lewis, Cash Jackson, Artin Hatamabad and Kaden Homayounieh recovered fumbles for Aliso Niguel.
The best scoring opportunity for the Wolverines came late in the third quarter when they attempted a 27-yard field goal that hit the left upright and was no good.
“You have to be able to get points,” Calahan said. “It was a wet night and it affected the hold but you have to execute and make things happen. That’s a really good La Serna team.”
Aliso Niguel quarterback Carter Vestermark threw for 93 yards but left the game just before halftime with an apparent concussion. Backup quarterback Aiden Sidenstecker entered the game and finished the scoring drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Brody Blasing to tie the game 7-7 at halftime.
La Serna scored on its first possession of the game via a 9-yard touchdown run by Jordan Bonilla to give the Lancers a 7-0 lead. The touchdown was set up by a 28-yard pass from Colorado State commit Grady Long to Armenta on a fourth down attempt.
Long led La Serna in rushing with 35 yards and converted multiple fourth down attempts in the fourth quarter.
Aliso Niguel had the ball with under two minutes remaining in La Serna’s territory, but failed to convert a fourth down which sealed the game for La Serna.
The defensive battle was expected given the rainy weather and the way both defenses performed in the first round. La Serna beat Lakewood 7-0 and Aliso Niguel edged Millikan 7-6 and scored via a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown.
Carson Etnire had an interception for Aliso Niguel, his team-high sixth of the season. Lewis and Makai Potopoff had sacks and CJ Holland forced a fumble.
Wyatt Leuschner and Danny Nunez had sacks for La Serna. La Serna held Aliso Niguel to 10 passing yards in the second half.
