Beckman football beats Hillcrest in fierce battle for 4-A regional title

TUSTIN — With five second-half lead changes, it seemed like whoever had the ball last would win the CIF Southern California Division 4-A Regional championship game between Hillcrest and Beckman on Saturday night.

That came to fruition and Beckman possessed the ball for the final 7:46 of the game to beat Hillcrest 46-40 to advance to its first state championship game.

Beckman (12-3) defeated Brea Olinda 30-24 last week in overtime to win the CIF Southern Section Division 8 championship, the first in its history.

Hillcrest (9-6) routed Tahquitz 63-34 to win the CIF-SS Division 10 championship.

Hillcrest took a 40-38 lead over Beckman with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Ramos to Nicholas Shaw with just under eight minutes remaining in the game.

The Trojans’ offense never touched the field again.

Beckman regained the lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Makhi Czaykowski, who also converted a 2-point attempt to give the Patriots a 46-40 lead with 4:44 left in the game.

Patriots coach Marcello Giuliano called for a gutsy onside kick and Beckman’s Aiden Alvarado recovered it to keep Hillcrest’s high-powered offense off the field.

Czaykowski and teammate Aiden Tran ran Beckman down to the 1-yard line to use the rest of the clock before taking a knee to end the game.

“That idea came from our offensive coordinator (Willy Puga) and the rationale was really good,” Giuliano said. “We had to assume that we weren’t going to stop them. If you try the onside and don’t get it, they score quickly and we have more time and timeouts to execute our final drive.”

The Patriots will play El Cerrito for the 4-A state championship on Saturday, Dec. 13, at Buena Park High at 7 p.m.

Both offenses were as dominant Saturday as they were in previous playoff games. Beckman rushed for 327 yards with four touchdowns.

Hillcrest, which scored at least 39 points in three of its four playoff games entering Saturday, threw for 249 yards, which is the second most yards in a game for the Trojans this season.

The Trojans ran for 453 yards in its CIF-SS championship game last week and Beckman held them to 152 yards.

“We came in committed to stopping their running game and they threw the ball all over the yard,” Giuliano said. “They committed to stopping our passing game and we ran the ball really well. You have to do whatever you can to win in late-season football.”

Czaykowski has been Beckman’s most dynamic player all season and put on a great performance again Saturday. He ran for 213 yards with two touchdowns and led the Patriots in receiving with 95 yards and a score.

“We executed really well on offense and the offensive line was able to open up gaps up front so we could run the ball,” Czaykowski said. “It was a physical, well-fought game and it was a lot of fun. One of my favorite games we’ve played in my career.”

Noah Nam completed 16 of 21 passes for Beckman with 222 yards and two touchdowns. He ran for two touchdowns and connected with Sawyer Nicholson for a touchdown in the first half.

Matthew Ramos threw for 249 yards with two touchdowns for Hillcrest and ran for 55 yards with a touchdown. Reyez Ortiz ran for 98 yards on 22 carries with two touchdowns and Nicholas Shaw caught 10 passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns.

Late in the third quarter, Aiden Wimberley made a 23-yard field goal for Beckman to give the Patriots a 31-27 lead.

Nicholas Bernal of Hillcrest returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to put the Trojans in front 34-31.

Beckman has won 11 consecutive games.