LA CANADA—The defense for Murrieta Mesa has been carrying the team all season long so it was fitting it would have to make a stand to earn a spot in the CIF-Southern Section Division 6 championship game. The Rams fended off a surging St. Francis offense and forced a game-tying field goal miss with 28 seconds left to hold on to a 31-28 win in the semifinals on Friday night.
Murrieta Mesa (9-4) will play Glendora next week in the championship at Citrus College. The Tartans defeated Dana Hills 25-21 in the other semifinal. This will be the first CIF-SS football championship game appearance in school history for Murrieta Mesa. The team made it to the Division 6 semifinals last year but lost to Mira Costa.
“I said to my defensive coordinator toward the end of the game to take us home,” said Murrieta Mesa coach Oscar McBride. “And that’s what they did.”…