TUSTIN -- Hillcrest football coach Travis Carter could not have asked for a better start Saturday night, as Trojans grabbed an early double-digit lead on Beckman in the CIF State Division 4-A regional championship game.
But as the cliché goes, it's not how you start but how you finish. And unfortunately for the Trojans on this night, Beckman got a late 2-yard touchdown run from Makhi Czakowski and recovered the ensuing onside kick to finish off a 46-40 win at Tustin High School.
Beckman (12-3) advances to play El Cerrito (12-2) for the Division 4-A state championship Saturday at 7 p.m. ay Buena Park High School.
The loss ended a historic season for Hillcrest (9-6), which set a program record for wins and also claimed the program's first CIF Southern Section title.
"We gave ourselves every chance to win that game and just couldn't get it done, but coming up short tonight doesn't take away from what these guys accomplished this year at all," Carter said. "This senior class has set the bar for our program, but we know it takes a lot of hard work to take it from one-hit wonder to regular participants in championship games and I hope that's what the younger guys have seen and are willing to give."
Hillcrest started with possession and used 15 plays covering more than 5 minutes of the clock to take an early 6-0 lead after a 3-yard touchdown run by quarterback Matthew Ramos. Beckman blocked the extra point attempt. Ramos ran for a touchdown and threw for a pair of touchdowns in the loss
On the ensuing kickoff, Hillcrest's Nicholas Bernal recovered a fumble, giving the Trojans a short field. Hillcrest cashed in the turnover six plays later on a 2-yard touchdown run from Reyes Ortiz to go up 13-0 with 4:26 left in the first quarter.
The Patriots answered with 25 seconds left, as quarterback Noah Nam ran it in from 21 yards out to cut the deficit to 13-7..
Both offenses traded scores throughout the second quarter with Hillcrest adding a 56-yard passing touchdown from Ramos to Nicholas Shaw and an 8-yard rushing touchdown from Ortiz to go up 27-21 at half.
Beckman started with possession coming out of halftime and needed just four plays to take back the lead at 28-27 on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Nam to Czakowski. The Patriots defense began to string together stops, forcing a pair of turnovers on downs on Hillcrest's final possession of the first half and first drive of the second half.
But the points just kept coming as Bernal, with Hillcrest trailing 31-27 after a Beckman field goal with 1:43 left in the third quarter, ran back the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to give the Trojans a 34-31 lead they would take to that final quarter.
Just 42 seconds into the fourth quarter, Czaykowski put Beckman back in front with a 5-yard touchdown run. Ramos threw his second touchdown of the night to Shaw from 15 yards out to give Hillcrest their final lead, 40-38, with 7:46 left after the extra point try was missed.
Czaykowski gave Beckman one final lead at 46-40 with 4:44 left after a 1-yard touchdown run and successful 2-point conversion. It was his third and final score of the evening.
On the ensuing kickoff Beckman coach Marcello Giuliano called for an onside kick and his special teams unit came up with possession. Hillcrest never got the ball back and saw their season come to an end.
"For me it was about preserving time for a potential final drive," Giuliano said about the onside kick call. "If they score with a short field at least I'll have kept some time for my offense to go and answer that score. Hillcrest deserves a lot of credit for throwing that kind of a first punch but I knew our kids had what it took to answer it and then finish the job."
Beckman has not dropped a game in just over two months, while Hillcrest saw its five-game winning streak come to an end.