It was a wild night at the Battle at the Capital in Loomis Saturday.
First, Lincoln of Stockton upset Bee No. 1 Pleasant Grove 50-49 in two overtimes.
Then No. 3 Del Oro and Southern California Westlake almost topped that by also playing into overtime.
Alex Ball booted the game-winner, a 27-yard field goal, to give Westlake a 30-27 win in the first overtime.
The kick came one play after an official ruled that Del Oro quarterback Bobby Heatherington's knee was down at the one-inch line on fourth and goal, negating what appeared to be a touchdown on the Golden Eagles' first overtime possession.
Westlake had a shot at winning in regulation but Ball's 36-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Alex Bertrando with 2.3 seconds to play.
Del Oro's Skylar Rand had tied the game 27-27 with 1:02 left on a 40-yard field goal.
Del Oro had several spectacular second-half plays: Blake Covey had a 77-yard touchdown catch from Heatherington; Austin Solando returned an interception 36 yards for a score; and Brandon Monroe, behind a block by Daniel Thomas, made a dazzling 42-yard touchdown run after a short pass from Heatherington.
The Pleasant Grove-Lincoln game was equally electrifying.
The Trojans won on a gutsy call by coach Brian Gray.
After scoring on a one-yard plunge to close to 49-48, quarterback Zack Greenlee hit Devan Barkley with the two-point conversion pass to end a three-hour-plus marathon.
Pleasant Grove came into the game ranked No. 4 in the state and No. 8 in the nation.
But the Eagles weren't viewed as overwhelming favorites in this competitive rivalry. Last year, Pleasant Grove twice beat Lincoln in close games en route to the Sac-Joaquin Section D-I championship.
Lincoln dominated time of possession behind junior running back Justin Davis (193 yards, three touchdowns on 35 carries), holding the ball for nearly 19 more minutes than Pleasant Grove.
Still, quarterback Cody Demps (10 of 18 for 219 yards and three touchdowns), running back Mark Jenkins (113 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries) and wide receiver Cole Hikutini (four catches for 143 yards and a touchdown) helped keep the Eagles in the game.
They went ahead 35-28 with 5:18 to play on a Jenkins' two-yard touchdown run.
But Lincoln responded with an 80-yard drive, scoring with 33.1 seconds on a six-yard pass from Greenlee to Barkley to tie the game.
Marcus White' 45-yard field goal attempt went barely wide right with 4.9 seconds in regulation.
"Cody did a very nice job throwing the football," said Pleasant Grove coach Joe Cattolico. "Obviously it goes without saying, based on the score, offensively we did some very nice things.
"On the other side of the ball, we'd have liked to play better. But I don't know if we played bad defensively. They're just real good."
Pleasant Grove lost two key players, wide receiver Josh Adams and fullback Shedric Allen, to first-half leg injuries.
Allen returned a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to open the game.
In the Battle of the Capital's first two games:
Demitri Cranshaw rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries as an undermanned but game 20-man Capital Christian team fell 22-15 to Scotts Valley.
Quarterback James Harris completed 13 of 18 passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for a touchdown and Cody Hurd returned an interception 43 yards for a touchdown to lead Bear River over Hug of Reno 42-13.
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