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South Gate beats Marquez for City Division I football title on Hail Mary

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South Gate beats Marquez for City Division I football title on Hail Mary

Nicholas Fonseca snared a tipped ball in the end zone for a 39-yard touchdown on an untimed down as South Gate pulled out a miraculous 63-58 victory over Marquez in the City Section Division I final Saturday at Southwest College.

Marquez had taken a 58-57 lead on a one-yard sneak by Angelo Gutierrez and his subsequent two-point conversion pass to Elyjah Staples with six seconds left. After a fair catch, South Gate took over at its 46 and when Anthony Ford intercepted a pass the Gladiators began celebrating, thinking they had won. However, a pass interference penalty advanced the ball to the Marquez 39 and gave the Rams one last gasp with zeros on the clock.

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

“I said to myself I’m not going to go up for the ball, I’m not that tall. … I’m gonna wait for it to come down and that’s what happened,” said Fonseca, who had 10 catches for 152 and two touchdowns and also scored on a six-yard run.

“I seen it coming, I saw them hit it down but it went right into my hands and I caught it. This is one of the most special moments of my life!”

Gonzalez completed 26 of 34 passes for 450 yards and six touchdowns. Ephaunie 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 South Gate up 57-50.

Marquez tailback Gilberto Cisneros drags Rams defender Jordan Olivares to the goal line in the second quarter Saturday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

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Nicholas Quintanilla returned the second-half kickoff 85 yards for a score that pulled the second-seeded Rams (11-3) even and his 39-yard touchdown catch gave South Gate its first lead, 35-28, late in the third quarter. He finished with 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, Marcus Juan ran for 113 yards and one touchdown in 15 carries and caught four passes for 50 yards. He raced 68 yards on a hook and lateral to give the fifth-seeded Gladiators (11-3) a 50-49 lead with 1:57 left.

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

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“Never give up!” coach Francisco Saldana shouted before raising the trophy

South Gate lost to Chatsworth 38-36 on a field goal with no time left in the Division II final last year — one of the most bizarre endings in City playoff history.

“On the last play my coach told me to run a corner route to the pylon,” Fonseca said. “Last year we were up late and it bit us. This time we came through and it feels great.”

South Gate captured its third City title and first since winning the 3A Division in 1988 under Gary Cordray.

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West Virginia football game holds moment of silence for two National Guard soldiers shot in DC attack

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West Virginia football game holds moment of silence for two National Guard soldiers shot in DC attack

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Before the West Virginia Mountaineers football team took on the No. 5 Texas Tech Red Raiders Saturday afternoon in Morgantown, the crowd shared a moment of silence for the two West Virginia National Guard soldiers shot in Washington, D.C., Wednesday.

The public address announcer asked the crowd for silence as it came together to honor 24-year-old U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe from Martinsburg and 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom from Webster Springs. Their pictures were shown on the scoreboard during the moment of silence.

The two National Guard soldiers were shot near the White House during their deployment in D.C. Spc. Beckstrom died from her injuries, while Staff Sgt. Wolfe remains in critical condition.

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Rich Rodriguez, head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers, during the second quarter of a game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Milan Puskar Stadium Nov. 29, 2025, in Morgantown. (Brien Aho/Getty Images)

The suspected shooter is Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national.

The shooting happened in broad daylight, and eyewitness video has emerged showing the shooter, believed to be Lakanwal, wearing dark clothing, turning a corner with a revolver in hand while Guardsmen scramble for cover.

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One of the Guardsmen was seen around a corner down a street and returned fire. Metro Police say other National Guardsmen heard the shots about three blocks away from the White House and were able to detain Lakanwal after he had been shot.

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The shooter fired off 10 to 15 rounds with a .357 revolver, according to federal charging documents cited by Reuters.

Lakanwal had entered the United States in September 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, the Biden administration’s Afghan evacuation and resettlement program. Prosecutors say he traveled across the country shortly before the attack and had no prior criminal record.

Emergency personnel gather in a cordoned area where National Guard soldiers were shot near the White House Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, in Washington.  (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Lakanwal faces charges of first-degree murder and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed. Attorney General Pam Bondi has said the Department of Justice intends to seek the death penalty.

Beckstrom and Wolfe were among members of the West Virginia National Guard deployed to the D.C. area to tackle crime in the city in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump.

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Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., told “FOX & Friends Weekend” Saturday that Wolfe is “hanging on,” adding his family is calling for prayer. 

“Andrew is fighting for his life right now, and his family and all of his friends, they’re trying to harvest as many prayers as possible from all across the country, all across the globe, to help him recover,” West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey told “Fox & Friends Weekend” Saturday.

National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, were shot in Washington, D.C., Wednesday. Beckstrom died Thursday at a hospital. (United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“West Virginia cares very deeply about its guard. And there’s just a proud tradition of West Virginians who step up from military service. So, when something like this happens, it’s really a gut punch to the communities.”

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As for the Mountaineers’ game, they weren’t competitive against one of the best teams in the country. The Red Raiders beat them, 49-0, to move to 11-1 on the year. West Virginia finished its season 4-8.

Fox News’ Michael Dorgan, Greg Norman and Madeleine Rivera added to this report.

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Super Bowl champion coach takes issue with NFL officials over pass interference penalties

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Super Bowl champion coach takes issue with NFL officials over pass interference penalties

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Super Bowl champion head coach Tony Dungy expressed his frustration with inconsistent pass interference penalties during Thanksgiving Day’s slate of NFL games.

There were plenty of questionable calls during each of the three games – as there have been over the course of the entire 2025 season. He wrote on social media that the discrepancies have made it appear that NFL officials do not know what pass interference is.

Tony Dungy on the NBC Sports set before the game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium on Sept. 8, 2022.  (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)

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“When you watch NFL football all day long you just come to the conclusion our officials don’t know what pass interference is,” he wrote on X. “We tried making it reviewable a couple of years ago and that didn’t help. But these are monster penalties that are not called consistently at all.”

Dungy explained his take further when one X user wrote back that his comments were “cheap seats kind of gripes.”

“I had a good day watching football. I just think pass interference is called very inconsistently. And they are sometimes 40 yard penalties. Doesn’t make it a cheap seat gripe. It’s just a statement of fact made from watching 3 games with (DBs) and WRs making contact on 40-50 passes. Anybody who watched the games would say the same thing.”

Former NFL coach Tony Dungy looks on from the sideline during the NFL 2025 game between Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on Oct. 19, 2025 in Santa Clara, California.  (Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

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NFL officials have sparked debates across social media over pass interference calls, which have also reached the broadcast booth as Tony Romo and Cris Collinsworth were among those critical of them this year.

Former NFL head coach Jon Gruden said last December that he would want to see the league adopt college football’s rules on pass interference penalties.

“I would make it the college rule, honestly, because some of these pass interference calls are impacting the game, just one play there,” Gruden said at the time on the “Pardon My Take” podcast.

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He also suggested the call was too subjective and that the penalty flag should only be thrown if it is clear and obvious.

Fox News’ Chantz Martin contributed to this report.

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San Fernando claims first City Section football title since 2017

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Junior cornerback Ayden Celis recovered a fumble at San Fernando’s 22-yard line with 1:27 remaining and the second-seeded Tigers held on to beat No. 1-seeded Cleveland 21-14 at Birmingham High.

It was the ninth City title for San Fernando (11-3) and its first since 2017.

Melvin Pineda plowed into the end zone on fourth and goal from the one-yard line to end San Fernando’s first drive and, after teammate Brandan Marshall recovered a fumble at the Tigers’ 46, Pineda capped the ensuing possession with another one-yard touchdown, his sixth of the playoffs, to make it 14-0.

Cleveland marched to San Fernando’s eight-yard line late in the second quarter but a 25-yard field-goal attempt by Samael Cerritos hit the left upright.

Oluwafemi Okeola intercepted an overthrown pass at the San Fernando 46 early in the third quarter and nine plays later quarterback Domenik Fuentes scored on a three-yard keeper to pull the top-seeded Cavaliers within eight.

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Three runs by Brandon Maldonado gained 37 yards to set up Fuentes’ one-yard plunge and a two-point conversion run by Joseph Hurtado that tied the score, 14-14, with 9:33 left.

San Fernando responded with a 75-yard drive, regaining the lead on a two-yard run by Andrew Newchurch, his 16th touchdown of the season, and a clutch extra point by Isaac Ortega with 4:36 remaining in the game.

“It was probably my last [high school] football game and we got the win,” Newchurch said. “The play was overload left and it was wide open. We’re proud to add to the school legacy — we hadn’t won City in a long time.”

The Tigers lost to eventual-champion Chatsworth in the first round of the Division II playoffs last season.

Cleveland (5-9) was seeking its first City title.

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