SO. SECTION DIVISION III: LOTS OF PAIN, BUT NO GAIN AV'S WALKER GIVES BEST TRY MIRA COSTA 31, A.V. 12.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

MANHATTAN BEACH - Antelope Valley High quarterback Johnny Walker trudged through the postgame handshake line Saturday night, limping on both ankles and reaching across his body with his left hand to congratulate his Mira Costa opponents, because his right arm was too sore to lift.

Walker won't be a champion this season, but nobody on either side doubted that he has the heart of one. Walker played through significant pain in the Antelopes' 31-12 loss to Mira Costa in the Division III semifinals at Mira Costa High.

The Antelopes couldn't stop tailback Michael Okwo, who rushed 34 times for 249 yards and led the Mustangs to next Friday's championship game against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks.

But nobody who saw it will soon forget the image of a hobbled Walker playing to the end.

``This is my team, and I knew I had to run it, no matter what,'' said Walker, who ran 16 times for 116 yards and completed 5 of 13 attempts for 80 yards despite a possibly separated shoulder. ``I wasn't going to come out unless a coach told me to come out.''

Walker started the game with a heavily bandaged right (throwing) hand because of a thumb injury suffered last week. He ran 77 yards on an option play on the second play of the game to give Antelope Valley a 6-0 lead, but then disaster struck.

On Mira Costa's first offensive play, Walker, playing defense, took a hard hit and went down for several minutes with an injured right shoulder. He couldn't play quarterback on the Antelopes' next possession, but returned on defense on the series after that.

Mira Costa took a 7-6 lead on that drive, on a 13-yard pass from Peter Dobush to Nick Haley, and then Walker returned to play quarterback but the Antelopes couldn't get a first down. Walker is also the punter, and on fourth down he couldn't get a punt off and Mira Costa took possession at the Antelopes' 16.

``I caught the ball, but my arm gave out on me,'' Walker said, gesturing to his injured right shoulder. ``My arm just went dead. That ended up being a big play.''

The Mustangs scored three plays later on a 12-yard pass from Dobush to Haley and never trailed again.

Antelope Valley suffered the same fate as every team to play Mira Costa this season: an inability to stop Okwo, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound senior recruited by several Pacific-10 Conference schools.

The Antelopes contained Okwo for much of the game and held him well under his 10.3-yard-per-carry average, but Okwo was too tough to control and the Mustangs smartly mixed in passes from Dobush, who completed 7 of 11 attempts for 71 yards.

Antelope Valley had a chance to tie the game with eight minutes remaining in the second quarter, but failed twice on fourth-and-goal from the Mira Costa 3, with a second chance awarded because of an inadvertent whistle.

That allowed the Mustangs to take a 14-6 lead into halftime, and they scored on their first possession of the third quarter, a seven-play, 54-yard drive capped by a 21-yard field goal by Joe Houston. A three-and-out drive gave the ball back to the Mustangs, who essentially clinched the game with a 10-play, 55-yard drive that took four minutes off the clock. Okwo took the ball to the goal line but fumbled into the end zone.