The final Thursday Night Football Madness of the season turned into Sunset League Overtime Madness.

Newport Harbor showed tremendous heart to rally from a 14-point deficit with 31 points after halftime to defeat Los Alamitos, 31-28, in overtime on Thursday night at Veterans Stadium. It was the fifth time in the past six meetings that Newport has defeated Los Al.

With the victory, Edison, Huntington Beach and Newport clinch the Sunset League’s three guaranteed playoff berths. If Huntington upsets Edison on Friday, it will create a three-way tie for first place and coin flips will determine playoff positioning. If Huntington loses, Newport takes second because Edison has the tiebreaker over the Sailors.

Los Al will have to hope to get the Southwest Division’s lone at-large berth and the Griffins should have a good shot with a 6-4 record.

Sophomore QB Cole Norris and junior WR Quest Truxton put on a show to lead the Sailors comeback. Norris completed 24 of 36 passes for 343 yards and four TDs with one pick. Truxton had 12 catches for 217 yards and three TDs.

Newport trailed 28-20 when it took over at its own 37 with a little over a minute remaining regulation. Norris kept hitting Truxton to move the ball right down the field. Truxton’s 8-yard TD catch with 20 seconds remaining cut Los Al’s lead to 28-26.

The Sailor’s got three shots at the 2-point conversion because of two defensive holding penalties against the Griffins. Riley Gaddis finally pounded it in the end zone on the third try to make it 28-28.

Los Al didn’t try to make anything happen in the final 20 seconds, so it was off to overtime.

The Griffins got the first possession in overtime and Newport’s D held strong. The Griffins decided to go for it on fourth-and-5 from the 11-yard line rather than attempt a 28-yard field goal. Armani Johnson sacked Los Al QB Cody Marshall and it was Newport’s turn to take over on offense.

The Sailors had trouble moving the ball and were forced to settle for a 32-yard field goal attempt by Michael Schults, who missed an extra-point attempt in the fourth quarter. A false start penalty backed the Sailors up five yards, but it didn’t matter. Schultz drilled a 37-yard field goal to win it and Newport started celebrating.

What a game. I’m exhausted. Now it’s time to get home and update the OC football playoff picture.

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Katella’s Jose Rodriguez is pumped after making a play on defense in the first half Thursday night at Glover Stadium. / ROD VEAL, TH REGISTER

TJ Ashmeade had his third 200-yard rushing game in four league games to help Katella beat Magnolia, 48-17, to claim at least a share of its first Orange League title since 1967 on Thursday night at Glover Stadium.

Things got ugly at the end of the game when Katella recovered what Magnolia believed to be an onside kick by the Knights after a late TD. The Magnolia coaches in the press box went bonkers because they couldn’t believe Katella would go for an onside kick with a 31-point lead.

Damian Dottore talked to Knights coach Fred DiPalma after the game and he said it was a pooch kick by the third string kicker that was never intended to be recovered.

Pushing, shoving and penalties ensued on the next play from scrimmage.

The Sentinels coaches were already riled up because they believed Katella faked a extra-point attempt and tried a 2-point conversion after Ashmeade’s final TD gave the Knights the 48-17 lead. DiPalma said it was just a bad snap and a busted play.

Everybody needs to calm down. There were a couple of confusing plays down the stretch. Come on, fellas? Always remember to win with class, lose with honor and let’s all not jump to conclusions.

THE THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL MADNESS STUDS:

TJ Ashmeade, Katella: This kid has been putting up huge numbers in league. Not only is he a workhorse on those short tough yardage situations, but he can break big runs too. he finished with 250 yards and three TDs on 30 carries.

Troy Poole, Esperanza: He had 11 carries for 148 yards, including a 68-yard TD run, in Esperanza’s 38-0 Century League victory over El Modena.

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I was looking forward to seeing just how good this Segerstrom team, which is ranked No. 1 in the Southern Division, really was and then Thursday Night Football Madness happened.

Orange played one of its best games in years and upset the Jaguars, 45-33, to throw a monkey wrench into the Golden West league title picture.

First, what impressed me the most was the speed of both teams. Orange and Segerstrom don’t have the size of the Southwest and Pac-5 teams, but both teams have speed.

Orange came to play from the opening snap. Lorenzo Rosario connected with Nick Kunkel for a 77-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage to let the Jaguars know that the Panthers weren’t here to mess around.

Panthers running back Aaron Aguilar is a stud. The 5-6, 170-pound junior can get tough yards, bounce off of tacklers and break away with his speed. And he’s a workhorse. He had 35 carries for 226 yards and five TDs.

Segerstrom RB David Perkins has legit speed. He is a fun player to watch. He finished with 199 yards and two TDs on 14 carries.

The big difference in this game was turnovers. The Panthers scored 17 points off three Segerstrom turnovers and that proved to be the difference.

Here’s how the Golden West League looks: Westminster (3-4, 2-0) is alone in first place and plays at Ocean View. Westminster has beaten Orange and plays Segerstrom in the regular-season finale. Orange (5-3, 2-1) and Segerstrom (7-1, 2-1) are tied for second place.

THE THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL MADNESS STUDS:

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Katella snapped a two-game losing streak against Santa Ana Valley with a 34-0 victory on Thursday night at Western High.

Valley came into the game ranked No. 8 in the Southern Division, while Katella was on the bubble. This victory will certainly get the Knights some top-10 looks in next week’s poll.

More importantly, the Knights control their own destiny in the Orange League.

Katella improved to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in league. The Falcons dropped to 4-3 and 1-1. Century is the other team unbeaten in the Orange League, and the Centurions play host to Magnolia on Friday night at 7 at Santa Ana Stadium.

Katella and Century hook up next Thursday at Santa Ana Stadium.

Katella has reeled off three consecutive victories in impressive fashion since a 15-12 defeat to Garden Grove, which is ranked No. 4 in the Southern Division.

The Knights have an impressive rushing attack. They entered tonight’s game averaging 198 rushing yards per game, but they compiled 447 rushing yards against the Falcons. TJ Asmeade, a 6-2, 175-pound junior, had his second consecutive 200-yard rushing game.

Katella had some turnover issues, but its defense also forced a lot of turnovers.

The Knights are going to be a factor in the Southern Division playoffs.

THE THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL MADNESS STUDS:

TJ Ashmeade, Katella: Ricky Cobian rushed for 103 yards and one TD and Benjamin Cobb punched it in the end zone twice, but Ashmeade was the workhorse all night. He had 29 carries for 255 yards to make the TNFM Studs roster.

Nick Howard, Pacifica: The Mariners QB passed for 258 yards and three TDs to help Pacifica defeat Western, 39-0, in the Empire League.

Angel Martinez, Garden Grove: The Argos QB turned in an efficient performance, going 8 of 12 for 142 yards and TDs and he added a rushing TD to lead Garden Grove to a 55-14 victory over Los Amigos in the Garden Grove League.

Aaron Aguilar, Orange: The RB gained 158 yards and scored on TD on 20 carries to help the Panthers pick up a 34-7 Golden West League victory over Loara.

Steven Anderson, Westminster: The Lions went to 2-0 in the Golden West League thanks to Anderson, who was 8 of 9 for 211 yards, including an 89-yard TD pass to lift Westminster over Santa Ana, 35-0.

Dylan Osborne, Villa Park: The QB passed for 219 yards and three TDs to help the Spartans hold off El Dorado, 50-34, in the Century League.

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