LANCASTER ENDS UP JUST SHORT KICKING GAME WOES PROVE COSTLY DOMINGUEZ 13, LANCASTER 12.

Byline: Ramona Shelburne  Staff Writer

LANCASTER - The Dominguez High football team could hardly wait to get off the field after escaping with a 13-12 victory over gutty and undersized Lancaster. The temperature had dropped below 40 degrees, there was a long bus ride home and if Lancaster had another couple of chances, it might have pulled off an upset.

But there was one thing Dominguez's players and coaches had to do first.

As the teams shook hands at the end of the game, almost every player and coach stopped Lancaster quarterback Bobby Thomas to pass along a few words of respect.

It was a gesture of sportsmanship rarely seen between two unfamiliar teams, made especially more genuine because this was a quarterfinal playoff game. But after Thomas' performance Friday night, it seemed justified.

On the third play of the game, Thomas suffered what looked to be a serious knee injury. He sat out most of the first half and in his absence, Lancaster struggled to move the ball, despite starting with great field position after the defense forced two fumbles.

But after a creative tape-job, Thomas came back late in the first half and limped his way through the rest of the game, putting Lancaster in position to upset the second-seeded team in Div. III.

``I was really limited out there, I felt it keep popping in and out when I made cuts,'' said the normally fleet-footed Thomas. ``But it was my last game, I wasn't going to sit out.''

Said coach Jeff Cortez: ``He was pretty much on one leg out there, but I knew he would play. ... He's been a real warrior for us.''

Because Thomas was so limited, running backs Roosevelt Monroe-Truitt and Dominic Cornelius became the focus of the offense. Monroe-Truitt rushed for 100 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries, Cornelius rushed for 102 yards and a score on 16 carries. That would've been enough if Lancaster's kicking game didn't fail.

The Eagles had their first extra-point kick blocked and failed to convert a 2-point conversion pass in the fourth quarter that would've been the game- winner. On that play, Dominguez' Michael Shelton batted down Thomas' pass to a wide-open Tommy Grillo.

Neither team had a first down until the second quarter and Dominguez did not score an offensive touchdown in the game. The Dons (11-1) got two 42-yard field goals from Rafael Gonzalez. Marvin Johnson scored their only touchdown on a 16-yard fumble recovery.

It was the second consecutive year Lancaster nearly upset one of Div. III's top-seeded teams. Last year, Lancaster gave top-seeded Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks its best game of the postseason, losing 35-28 in the first round.

Lancaster was 2-8 the year before Cortez arrived in 2003. He has guided the Eagles to a 14-9 record and two playoff appearances in two seasons.

``Last year we lost in the first round, this year the quarterfinals. So we're just going to continue to expect to be in this position each year now,'' Cortez said.

Ramona Shelburne, [phone]

ramona.shelburne(at)dailynews.com