A toughened La Cañada defense stopped the Conquistadors comeback drive, but they also held La Cañada in check and got the ball right back on a punt.
However, Spartans' quarterback Tom Michael, playing defense, intercepted a Cabrillo pass at his own 29-yard line and, taking off down the left sidelines, ran it back in spectacular fashion for an 71-yard TD.
"I just wanted to run it back as far as I could. Everybody just got out and blocked. Things just happened," Michael said after the game.
Hopkins kicked the extra point to make the score 25-7 with 3:12 left in the game and the Conquistadors' long, disappointing bus ride back home was now a certainty.
To add insult to injury, the desperate Cabrillo offense tried to make something happen before the clock ran out, but was stifled by two late interceptions by defensive end John Young.
The Spartans got the ball back at their own 22-yard line with 2:07 left in the contest and were driving toward midfield when the contest ended.
Hopkins led the La Cañada backs in rushing with 14 attempts for 115 yards and two TDs. Mike Martin contributed five carries for 36 yards. Michael Motia and Michael had three rushes each for seven and 22 yards, respectively. Gallagher rushed twice for 15 yards and one TD. Chris Walters carried twice for nine yards and Young had one rush for three yards.
Michael completed four of 12 passes for 71 yards, no TDs and no interceptions. Nick Sparks had two receptions for 41 yards. Motia and Young caught one pass each for 10 and 20 yards, respectively.
Kris Brown was the leading tackler for the Spartans with 10. Nick Crisci, Hopkins and Roger Romero were right behind with nine tackles apiece.
Young followed with eight tackles, T.J. Trumbo chipped in six and Michael came up with five.
Tyler Hughes added three tackles and making two each were Jonathan Fernandez, Darron Fors, Ben Loth and Sparks. Michael Chiu, Motia and Alex Sakai had one tackle each.
Crisci made one fumble recovery and Hopkins punted four times for 146 yards.
