SO. SECTION - DIV. III: DEFENSE HAS PALMDALE IN IT FALCONS HOLD ON TO REACH FINAL PALMDALE 14, ST. PAUL 6.

Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer

SANTE FE SPRINGS - Defense, which carried speedy Palmdale to the brink of its first Southern Section title game, pushed the Golden League champions past their final hurdle Saturday night, when the Falcons outlasted St. Paul 14-6 in a stirring Div. III semifinal.

The victory wasn't assured until the final minute, when the host Swordsmen missed on their last pass attempt after being denied a near-touchdown by Palmdale standout Javonte Holmes two plays earlier.

``This meant a lot to us,'' said Holmes, whose end-zone deflection of a Miguel Rios pass denied St. Paul a chance to force overtime.

``We had a lot of people doubting us, saying how St. Paul was going to bring it to us,'' Holmes said. ``We just had to show all the doubters that Palmdale is the real deal.''

For most of the second half, St. Paul (10-3) was every bit as much the real deal. It rode the powerful rushing of 6-foot-3, 248-pound senior Matthew Parent, who had a game-high 174 rushing, to get back in a game Palmdale (12-1) had dominated during a 14-0 first half.

Second-half field goals of 35 and 40 yards by Randall Reynoso pulled St. Paul within a touchdown and 2-point conversion, and when the Swordsmen pulled off a successful onside kick with 3:13 remaining, they had an overflow crowd of nearly 5,000 roaring.

``They played hard in the second half,'' Holmes said. ``Harder than they did in the first because they knew the game was on the line. And their defense didn't let up.''

Neither did the Palmdale defense, which yielded yardage but little else during St. Paul's second-half surge. It stopped a Swordsmen drive with an interception by Thomas McKay, then stopped them again on downs at the Palmdale 11-yard line.

``The defense has been awesome for us all year,'' Holmes said. ``We had one little letdown against Notre Dame, but we brought it back.''

Palmdale's latest victory gives the Falcons one more shot at Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, which beat Palmdale in nonleague play and will face the Falcons in the title game next Saturday.

Adrian Jenkins got Palmdale started Saturday, scoring on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Rodney Trimm two play before the end of the first quarter.

On their next possession, the Falcons drove to a first-and-goal on the St. Paul 2-yard line following a short punt, but the Swordsmen held on downs to get the big crowd back in the game.

The fans were cheering again minutes later when St. Paul recovered a Palmdale fumble near midfield, but Jenkins got the ball back for Palmdale two plays later, intercepting Rios and returning the ball 39 yards for a touchdown.

Jenkins received a huge assist on that play when McKay put a huge pass rush on Rios, forcing an off-balance throw.

It remained only for the Falcons to survive the furious second-half rally by St. Paul, which had pulled off a similar comeback one week earlier against Golden League entry Antelope Valley of Lancaster, overtaking the Antelopes with a 21-0 run after halftime.

``I was pretty worried,`` Palmdale coach Jeff Williams said. ``But our defense is just playing outstanding, and they really got us out of some tough situations tonight.''

Dave Shelburne, [phone]

dave.shelburne(at)dailynews.com