L.A. Baptist Barrels Past St. Genevieve : High school football: Symington’s thunderous scoring run in final minute gives Knights 28-20 win.

VAN NUYS — L.A. Baptist High running back Jeff Symington saw his friend waiting for him only yards from the goal line.

But Symington wasn’t about to stop and exchange pleasantries.

Instead, the solid 5-foot-7, 180-pound senior plowed through St. Genevieve’s Omar Gutierrez, knocking him down at the eight-yard line, and went on to score the deciding touchdown with 18 seconds remaining to lift L.A. Baptist to a 28-20 victory over St. Genevieve in a Southern Section Division X quarterfinal game Friday night at Birmingham High.

“He’s a friend of mine,” said Symington of Gutierrez, “but there was no way he was gonna get me.”

Symington’s 15-yard touchdown broke a 20-20 tie and advanced the top-seeded Knights (11-0) to the semifinal round, where they will meet Ontario Christian, a 10-3 winner over Big Bear.

St. Genevieve, which won only one game a year ago, finished a tremendous season at 9-3.

After a defensive first half, the game turned 180 degrees--to all offense.

L.A. Baptist led, 6-0, at halftime, but St. Genevieve wasted no time getting into the ballgame after intermission.

The Valiants scored on their opening possession of the third quarter on a 20-yard halfback pass from Gutierrez to quarterback Alex Muller. The extra-point kick gave St. Genevieve a 7-6 lead.

L.A. Baptist retaliated with a 61-yard drive capped by a one-yard touchdown run by quarterback Zack Hernandez. The conversion pass failed to leave the score, 12-7.

Hernandez, the state’s third-leading passer, completed 14 of 26 passes for 301 yards with no interceptions.

Two plays later, Muller hit his brother, Joe Muller, on a sideline pass and he raced 45 yards to complete the 65-yard scoring play to give the Valiants back the lead, 14-12.

L.A. Baptist responded with a 58-yard drive, capped by Dana Berg’s five-yard touchdown run. This time however, the conversion pass--Hernandez to Jim Romero--was complete, giving L.A. Baptist a 20-14 lead.

Muller’s six-yard touchdown pass to David Khoury tied the score, 20-20, with 7:50 remaining. Berg, however, blocked the extra-point attempt.

L.A. Baptist had no problem converting first downs in the first half--getting 12. It was getting into the end zone that proved almost impossible. The Knights scored only on their first possession.

L.A. Baptist started at its 34 after Berg’s 12-yard kickoff return. Symington got the Knights started, rambling 27 yards on the first play from scrimmage to the Valiants’ 39.

After an incomplete pass and a fumble on a pitch to Berg, the Knights faced a third-and-19 play at the Valiants’ 48.

Hernandez stayed in the pocket and aired out a pass that carried about 45 yards to Romero, who made an over-the-shoulder grab at the 10 and raced into the end zone for a 6-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.

Matt Hernandez, Zack’s twin brother, was stopped short on a two-point conversion run.