In all his years of playing and coaching, Locke High School football coach Duane Horn has never been involved in a game that ended with a Hail Mary pass as time expired.

Even though it was his team winning in that improbable fashion Friday when Fabian Villegas connected with Stacy Staples on a 34-yard touchdown pass as time expired for a 30-28 victory over South Gate, it left him with mixed feelings.

“That was a magic game and it’s hard to describe my feelings, but we made it harder than it was supposed to be,” Horn said of the dramatic finish that left the Saints 2-1. “I have mixed feelings because we were so up-and-down. I’m feeling glad we got the W, but it should have never come down to that.”

It appeared the visiting Rams (1-2) were the ones that were going to win in dramatic fashion.

South Gate took over on downs at its own 18 with 2:24 left and trailing, 24-22

It took the Rams just five plays to cover the distance, getting a 40-yard pass completion, an 11-yarder and a personal-foul penalty to eventually set up a one-yard scoring with 35 seconds left.

Locke’s hopes appeared dim when the ensuing kickoff went into the end zone for a touchback, meaning the Saints would have to cover 80 yards in very little time.

With Villegas (14 of 21 for 152 yards) throwing four consecutive out patterns to James Griffin (eight catches for 70 yards), the Saints moved across midfield, reaching the 34 with eight seconds left. They tried one long pass that fell incomplete, leaving one second on the clock.

Just before the next snap, Horn called time out.

“I thought it was taking too long to get the play in and I was afraid we were going to get called for delay of game,” he said of why he called time. “Our offensive coordinator called a good Hail Mary play.”

Staples streaked down the left sidelines, beating two defenders in the process, to catch Villegas’ pass in stride to set off a wild celebration at the end.

Until that final drive, Locke was leaning heavily on tailback Rasool Gilmore, who carried 23 times for 144 yards and scored on a 25-yard run with 10:20 left to give the Saints a 24-22 lead. He converted three two-point conversions runs following the first three Locke TDs.

Griffin accounted for the first two TDs, one on a 77-yard kickoff return and the other on an 18-yard pass from Villegas in the second quarter.

South Gate’s Lavelle Thompson, who gave his team a 14-8 lead in the second period with an 18-yard run, carried 17 times for 112 yards.

Locke linebacker Marcus Scott had three tackles for loss, two of them on Thompson on consecutive carries.

“I have a good feeling about this game, but we can play better than this,” Horn said. “There is potential, I just have to dig it out of them.”