TUSTIN — Beckman had been preparing for the first round of the CIF Southern Section football playoffs all season. Not by getting its starters ready to play, but by getting everyone else ready to step in when they were needed.
“We spent all year developing depth,” Beckman coach Marcello Giuliano said. “We told them this is why you’re not getting as many touches as you want, why you aren’t getting as many reps as you want.”
That forethought manifested itself Saturday with a 42-26 victory over Rancho Mirage at Tustin High, a result that advances the Patriots (10-1) to the quarterfinals in Division 8.
Beckman will be at Lancaster (9-2), the champion of the Golden League, on Friday, Nov. 15.
It was the first home stadium playoff game for Beckman since 2011 and it didn’t waste the opportunity despite being less than 100 percent healthy. The team’s double-overtime loss a week earlier to Marina had left them battered and bruised, which resulted in as many tweaks to the lineup as there were tweaks to body parts.
A defensive end out of position here, an outside linebacker out of position there, and the No. 2 tailback asked to step into the spotlight.
And boy, could Aidan Tran handle the spotlight.
The junior rushed 26 times for 191 yards – easily a career high. But his big night didn’t yield any touchdowns.
“It’s all right, it’s my curse,” he said, laughing. “I always get stopped on the 1-yard line.”
Tran did a lot of heavy lifting Saturday and then watched his quarterback, Noah Nam, vulture the touchdowns. Nam ran seven times for 69 yards and four scores, on runs of 3, 7, 4 and 7 yards.
“I kind of felt bad for taking it away from him,” Nam said. “But those were the plays we got.”
Tran almost had a score in the closing minutes but couldn’t stay on his feet for 16 yards instead of the 15 he gained. That touchdown went to Nick Fernandez, who carried five times for 13 yards and scores of 1 and 2 yards.
Tran got the bulk of the work because Makhi Czaykowski had been dinged up in the Marina game. He carried twice for 2 yards.
“We had so many guys step up in ways we haven’t had to rely on,” Giuliano said.
The performance was an impressive bounce back as the Patriots built a 35-12 lead early in the fourth quarter.
“Credit to Beckman, they were so physical up front on their offensive line, we forced them to punt only one time, we didn’t get any turnovers,” Rancho Mirage coach Larry Matthews said. “We competed this whole game, we knew we had the opportunities, but we let them slip away. You can’t make mistakes at this stage of the game.”
The biggest moment of the game came on the opening possession of the second half. Rancho trailed 14-12 after missing a one- and two-point conversion attempt in the first half but had scored on their only two full possessions.
After a 16-yard pass completion on third-and-11, Rancho tailback Jeremiah Williams peeled off an 18-yard sweep around the left side – only to have CJ Bertoni strip him of the ball and recover it at the Beckman 34. The Patriots seized on the opportunity and were in the end zone seven plays later, with Fernandez scoring from 1 and Gui DeLuca’s point-after making it 21-12.
Rancho’s next two possessions petered out as momentum swung the Patriots’ way.
Matthews said it may have been the first fumble of the season for Williams, who carried 21 times for 119 yards, adding to the 1,205 yards he had entering the game.
Everyone on both sides of the ball agreed that the turnover was the key play of the game. After it happened, there was no looking back for the Patriots.
Apart from getting the ball in the final minute, Beckman scored on all four of its second-half possessions.
“They had a good plan for our defense,” Giuliano said. “It took us a half to figure it out, and a half to quit shooting ourselves in the foot on offense. Every time we gave the offense the ball in the second half, they killed it.”
In addition to his 69 yards rushing and four touchdowns, Nam completed 13 of 16 passes for 135 yards. Tran caught two passes for 27, but the big target was Noah Czaykowski, who caught 7 passes for 78 yards.
“This shows how good we can be without all our guys,” Nam said. “They stepped up and played their roles well. The coaches prepared us for working around the injuries.”
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