‘Peaking at the right time’: Christian outlasts Central Union for Division 3 football title

CHULA VISTA — Going into the last week of October, Christian High School’s football team was not in a good place.

The Patriots were sitting at 0-4 in the Eastern League and had lost seven of their last eight games. But Christian managed to win its final league game against San Diego High and qualified for the CIF San Diego Section Division 3 playoffs.

Since then, the Patriots have been unbeatable.

Christian capped a four-game run through the playoffs by defeating Central Union, 28-14, in the Division 3 championship game Saturday at Southwestern College’s DeVore Stadium. Junior quarterback Kaleb Runkle passed for 280 yards and four touchdowns as the Patriots elevated their season record to 7-7.  They’ll take a five-game win streak into the Southern California Regional playoffs.

“It’s playoff football, and we’re peaking at the right time,” said Christian coach Patrick Bugg, whose team was seeded No. 6 but knocked off the top three seeds en route to the school’s 11th section crown. “The big thing for us was just getting healthy. We had a lot of guys out earlier in the season, but we stayed the course and everybody worked real hard to get here.”

Christian toppled No. 2 seed Army-Navy 20-17 in the semifinals, and the Patriots built a 21-0 lead going into the fourth period of the section final. Central Union, the top seed, struggled on offense until the final period, but the Spartans scored two touchdowns less than two minutes apart to cut the deficit to 21-14.

An 11-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Alec Hernandez to C.J. Acosta was followed by a two-point conversion run by Matthew Lizaola as Central made it a one-score game with 3:38 left in the game.

But Kai Rosier returned the ensuing kickoff 38 yards to the Christian 48-yard line, and on first down Runkle found senior receiver Ronnie Scott streaking down the right sidle and hit him in stride for a 52-yard touchdown pass to ice the game.

Central Union coach David Pena saw his latest team finish with a 10-3 record.

“We’re very fortunate to be here,” Pena said. “I told the boys it’s about the process, it’s not about the result. We didn’t get the result we wanted, but I’m happy because they bought into the process.”

Christian established a 14-0 halftime lead on the strength of two scoring passes from Runkle, who connected with Hank Houston on a 24-yard middle screen for the first score of the contest with less than three minutes elapsed in the first period. The touchdown came three plays after a 37-yard completion to Rosier, who started the game with a 25-yard return on the opening kickoff.

Following a Central punt, Christian took over at its own 1-yard line late in the first period. The Patriots proceeded to advance 99 yards, taking advantage of a roughing-the-kicker penalty on a punt from their own end zone. Six plays after the penalty gave Christian a first down at the 22, Runkle found Scott in the left corner of the end zone for a 32-yard TD pass with 8:15 left in the second quarter.

Central quarterback Luis Jimenez, who came into the contest with 19 TD passes, was sidelined after a roughing-the-passer penalty against Christian midway through the fourth quarter. Emiliano Morales had five catches for 104 yards for the Spartans.

Division 1

The Division 1 final between Lincoln and Granite Hills was still being played when the U-T went to press. For coverage, visit SanDiegoUnionTribune.com, and look for coverage in Monday’s print edition.

Christian 28, Central Union 14

Christian   7  7  0  14 — 28

Central Union   0  0  0  14 — 14

C – Houston 24 pass from Runkle (Benson kick)

C – Scott 32 pass from Runkle (Benson kick)

C – Lucey 37 pass from Runkle (Benson kick)

CU – Lizaola 1 run (kick failed)

CU – Acosta 11 pass from Al. Hernandez (Lizaola run)

C – Scott 52 pass from Runkle (Benson kick)