Living on the edge.On paper, it sounds simple. St. Mary’s knows it isn’t — or maybe, in their world, it somehow is. The Rams have lived in that space all postseason, balancing on deficits that threatened to end them, only to scrape their way out every time.They’ve embraced the art of climbing out of holes, no matter the size.And this one, tiny as it was, carried the weight of everything they’d built.“Don’t leave at halftime, make sure you stay until the end,” coach Tony Franks said.Down a single point. Eighty yards stretched before them. Two minutes, 41 seconds on the clock. One timeout to keep the dream alive.Diego Hernandez pulled in a 5-yard catch. Ivan Huerta added 9 more. A sack on Jaden Galvan pushed the Rams backward and into the final frantic minute.Then Huerta appeared like a thief in the night. A simple short route — the kind designed for a modest gain — erupted into a 67-yard sprint, dropping St. Mary’s at the 2. Hernandez finished it with a 2-yard score.“Every week we do it for each other,” Huerta said. “That’s the power. We do it for God, with God. Anything with God, anything together as a team, you’re going to make it happen. That’s how we do it.”More: Meet the Martin Dentistry Athlete of the Week for November 24-29Four postseason games. Four comebacks. Four moments others might call escapes — but for the Rams, that’s simply who they are.“We just go out and execute and find a way to get it done at the end,” Franks said. “When it looked like we were out of hope, Jaden (Galvan) finds Ivan Huerta over the middle, and he takes it down. But that’s what we’ve done. That’s what this team has been. And every week it’s been like that.”And it’s taken them to their first state championship berth since 2016.St. Mary’s finished its latest postseason rally Friday night, Dec. 5, edging Serra of San Mateo 31-24 at Sanguinetti Field to capture the CIF State Division 2-AA regional crown and punch its ticket to the state championship.Huerta led the way with 187 receiving yards and 11 rushing yards. UCLA signee Kenneth Moore III added 61 receiving yards, 11 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Hernandez finished with 95 rushing yards, 24 receiving yards and two touchdowns. On defense, Mason Eagal recorded an interception, and twins Luke and Jake Lucatello each delivered a sack at crucial moments.“All glory to God,” Moore III said. “Without Him, none of this is possible. I signed two days ago, so it’s an awesome feeling to do that and then come out here and win the NorCal regional. It feels great to see us fight so hard and get it done every single week.”Galvan added, “We play together. We play for each other. That’s how we do it. We love each other, we play for each other, we play for God, and we’re able to pull it off every time.”The opening half unfolded like a heavyweight title bout — two contenders circling, jabbing, measuring each other, neither willing to throw the first risky punch.Scoreless after one, St. Mary’s turned to the most prolific receiver in program history, Moore III, to ignite the offense. He jump-started the drive with a long kick return, then strung together a 9-yard end-around, an 8-yard catch and an 11-yard grab. Hernandez finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.Serra countered moments later with a 47-yard bomb to three-star tight end Jace Cannon, setting up the tying score. Hernandez answered with a 21-yard burst that put St. Mary’s back in business, and Moses Alexander punched in a 6-yard touchdown to reclaim the lead.But Serra had one more swing left before halftime. On a ball lofted into the end zone, Ryan Lozano managed to get a fingertip on it, and Eagal snatched the deflection, preserving the Rams’ lead.Of course, it wouldn’t truly feel like a Rams postseason game unless St. Mary’s slipped into a deficit at some point.“It doesn’t feel real,” Moore III said. “It’s a surreal feeling. You dream about it, and it actually comes true. It’s a blessing.”Huerta added, “It’s an amazing moment. It’s hard to even absorb all the feelings, all the energy right now. It’s exhilarating. I love it. I love these boys. All day it’s felt like a movie. We just come up with the win every time.”Five plays. Sixty-six yards. A drive capped by Cannon blasting free for a 41-yard touchdown. With the Padres stacking the box on all five snaps, the Rams hesitated for a moment — and that was all Serra needed.Tied once more, Serra regained possession and seized control of the clock. The Padres bled six minutes off the clock with a steady, deliberate drive, capping it with a field goal that gave them a 17-14 advantage — their first lead of the contest.More: Meet the Martin Dentistry Football Athlete of the Week for SJS ChampionshipAs with so many St. Mary’s rallies, the familiar script began to emerge. The Rams seized control to start the fourth quarter, tacking on a field goal before Moore III’s 14-yard touchdown ignited what felt like all of Stockton. Yet it was still too early to settle in. The PAT was blocked, freezing the lead at 23-17 and keeping the suspense alive.A 71-yard bomb to Charles Walsh flipped the field and set Serra up in the red zone, where Andrew Takapautolo barreled in for a 2-yard score to tie the game. The PAT sailed through.Serra grabbed the lead. St. Mary’s responded the way it has all postseason. “Down by three, four, six points — whatever it was — with two and a half minutes left and a timeout? No problem,” Franks said. “We practice that every week. We practice situations worse than the one we were in.”Still, 34 seconds hung on the clock.On a desperate Hail Mary to 6-foot-5 tight end Jace Cannon, the 5-foot-10 Moore III stretched every inch of his frame, fully extended in the end zone and nearly coming down with the interception. The next play, Jake Lucatello closed it with a crushing sack as the final second vanished.“I knew when it came down to it they were going to target me,” he said. “He’s 6-6. He’s a big tight end. I’m 5-10, so I’ve got to be that guy, use my vertical and deflect the ball.”Franks added, “We’re resilient. We fought back, won at the end and didn’t let them score at the end.” This article originally appeared on The Record: Late-game magic lifts St. Mary’s football to CIF state championship