WESTERN HIGH lost its CIF State 5-AA semifinal football game Friday night, falling 43-28 to San Gorgonio.

The Scoring Spree in San Bernardino produced plenty of points Friday night in the CIF State 5-AA semifinal playoff game, but also ended Western High School’s long, gratifying football season.

Already the champions of the CIF-SS Division 11, the Pioneers were stopped in their bid for a state title in losing to San Gorgonio 43-28. The campaign ended with an historic 12-3 record for Dan Davidson’s team.

It was a record-setting season for the Pioneers’ two stars. Quarterback Anthony Munoz passed for 434 yards Friday night and finished the season with 67 touchdown passes, tying the county record. Caine Savage had 12 catches for 279 yards and finished with 32 TD receptions, a new CIF-SS single season record.

As always, Western was led by Munoz, who had several spectacular scoring passes, but who was also intercepted several times. Two picks led to a pair of Spartan touchdowns and an early 14-0 San Gorgonio lead.

In the second quarter the Pioneers responded with a 70-yard TD pass from Munoz to Savage to cut the margin to 14-6. After San G scored again, Western countered with a 64-yard TD strike to Savage to cut the lead to 20-13.

With three minutes before halftime, the home team got a third TD pass from Jordan Pachot and the Spartans added a two-point conversion to take a 28-13 lead into the intermission.

In the third quarter, the Munoz to Savage combination struck again on a 60-yard play. After James Mendoza added a two-point conversion, the score was 28-21.

Late in the quarter, Western’s Isiah Del Toro intercepted a Spartan pass and returned it to the San Gorgonio 24. That led to a 6-yard scoring run by Jacob Domino, and – with the extra point by Bobby Palacios – the Pioneers were even at 28-all.

That would be the high point for Western. Pachot threw for another TD in the waning seconds of the quarter for a 34-28 edge and then – after recovering a Western fumble – got Pachot’s fifth touchdown pass for a 40-28 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Munoz was intercepted for the third time, setting up a 27-yard field goal by San G for the final score.