Southgate beat Marquis for first division football at Hail Mary

Nicolas Fonseca took a tipped ball in the end zone for a 39-yard touchdown on a sudden down as Southgate pulled off a miraculous 63-58 victory over Marquez in the City Section Division I final on Tuesday at Southwestern College.

Marquez took a 58-57 lead on a one-yard touchdown run by Angelo Gutierrez followed by a two-point conversion pass to Elijah Staples with six seconds left. After a perfect catch, Southgate was caught in the 46th and when Anthony Ford intercepted the pass, the Gladiators started celebrating, thinking they had won. However, a pass interference penalty advanced the ball to the Marquez 39 and gave the Rams one final goal with zero on the clock.

Quarterback Michael Gonzalez rolled to his right to buy time and launched a pass into the maze of players in the end zone. A jump ball was tipped by two defenders into the waiting hands of Fonseca, who calmly swatted it out of the air — even shocking his own teammates.

“I told myself I’m not going to go up for the ball, I’m not that tall … I’m going to wait for it to come down and it did,” said Fonseca, who had 10 catches and two touchdowns on 152 carries and also ran for six yards.

“I saw it coming, I saw them hit it but it went right into my hands and caught me. It’s one of the most special moments of my life!”

Gonzalez completed 26 of 34 passes for 450 yards and six touchdowns. Efoni Lewis had 10 receptions for 193 yards and three scores — the last a three-yard lob from Gonzalez with 52 seconds left, immediately followed by Fonseca’s two-point run to put Southgate up 57-50.

Marquez tailback Gilberto Cisneros overthrew Rams quarterback Jordan Olivares at the goal line in the second quarter Saturday.

(Steve Gallozzo/The Times)

Nicholas Quintanilla returned the second-half kickoff 85 yards for a score to pull the second-ranked Rams (11-3) even, and his 39-yard touchdown catch gave Southgate its first lead, 35-28, late in the third quarter. He had five catches for 90 yards and rushed five times for 54 yards.

The teams combined for six touchdowns in a wild fourth quarter.

Angelo Gutierrez-Molina threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns, Marcos Juan had 113 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries and caught four passes for 50 yards. He ran 68 yards on a hook and a lateral to give the fifth-ranked Gladiators (11-3) a 50-49 lead with 1:57 left.

Gilberto Cisneros added 84 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries and Staples had four catches for 129 yards and a touchdown.

“never give up!” Coach Francisco Saldana shouted before raising the trophy

Southgate defeated Chatsworth 38-36 on a field goal with no time remaining in last year’s Division II final — the strangest finish in city playoff history.

“In the last game my coach told me to take a corner route to Payone,” Fonseca said. “Last year we stayed up late and it made us laugh. This time we finished and it feels good.”

Southgate won its third city title and first under Gary Corddry in the 3A division after winning in 1988.