Strong defense and effective run game lifts Beckman to road win over Sunny Hills

Leading Beckman to the win Friday were (from left) Makhi Czaykowski, Xavier Musselman-Cano, Sawyer Nickelson, Zak Hazboun and Noah Nam. (PHOTOS: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).

Beckman’s football team used a powerful running attack and a tenacious defense to defeat Sunny Hills 35-14 in a Lambda League game Friday night at Buena Park.

The Patriots (4-3, 2-0) won their third consecutive game and beat the Lancers for the second straight season. Sunny Hills (5-2, 1-1) had its three-game winning streak snapped.

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Makhi Czaykowski rushed for 180 yards, threw a touchdown pass and caught a TD pass and Noah Nam threw two touchdown passes and ran for two touchdowns to pace the Patriots.

“I’m just one piece of an 11-man offense and we all executed as a team tonight,” said Czaykowski, who also caught four passes in the game. “We felt like we weren’t respected coming into tonight’s game but after two league wins, I think that’s all changing. Our goal is to win our league.”

Nam said the win gives his team momentum going forward.

“We leaned on our coaches this week and we were prepared for every situation on both offense and defense,” said Nam, who completed 12 of 13 passes for 138 yards and two TD passes.  He also added TD runs of 31 and nine yards. “Three wins in a row feels great and nobody works harder than Makhi Czaykowski and our offensive line.”    

Sunny Hills drove to the Patriots 5-yard line on the game’s opening possession, but Beckman stopped the Lancers on a fourth-down play. The Patriots then marched 94 yards in 11 plays, behind the hard-nosed running of Czaykowski and Nam. Nam raced in from 31 yards for the touchdown, giving the Patriots a 7-0 lead with 14 seconds left in the first quarter.

On Sunny Hills’ ensuing possession, the Lancers moved the ball, but the Beckman defense forced a fumble that was recovered by Xavier Musselman-Cano to foil another Lancers’ drive.

“The first couple series totally changed the tide of the game, and we capitalized, and they couldn’t come back,” said Musselman-Cano, who was playing with a cast on his left hand, a result of a broken finger. He also had a fourth quarter interception as the Patriots forced three Sunny Hills turnovers.

Critical penalties continued to hurt the Lancers. Beckman moved the ball 77 yards in seven plays late in the half to up its lead to 14-0 after Nam picked up an errant snap from center and got off a short pass to Czaykowski, who deked several Sunny Hills defenders and sprinted into the end zone from 33 yards for the touchdown. Nam was seven for seven in passing in the first half.

Nam tossed a 21-yard TD pass to Zak Hazboun on Beckman’s first possession of the third quarter to extend the Patriots lead to 21-0.

George Shelledy scored on an eight-yard TD run at the 4:53 mark of the third quarter to get Sunny Hills on the board but Beckman countered with a 65-yard trick pass-play that went from Nam to Czaykowski to Sawyer Nickelson for a touchdown.

Lancers’ quarterback Mikeal Khan tossed a 28-yard TD pass late in the quarter Pierrce Sandle to trim the lead to 28-14 after three quarters. However, Nam scored on a nine-yard run in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Khan completed 23 passes for 219 yards and a TD pass and Shelledy rushed for 100 yards for Sunny Hills. Kruz Sandle also caught seven passes for the Lancers.

“We won the turnover game, and you can’t beat good teams unless you take advantage of turnovers and we did that,” said Beckman Coach Marcello Giuliano.  “This is one of the grittiest wins we’ve ever had.”

Sunny Hills Coach Fred Gambrell remained upbeat despite the setback.

“I told the guys we’re still a good football team, but we have to get back to basics,” said Gambrell. “No. 6 (Czaykowski) was amazing, but we hurt ourselves with too many penalties.”  

NOTES:

—Entering Friday’s game, Sunny Hills was averaging 32.5 points per game and giving up 27.6 points per game. The Lancers games have produced a high scoring combined total of points, ranging from 48–91 points.   

—The Lancers had scored at least 21 points in each game this season of their until Friday.

—Friday was Junior High School Night. Bands from Fullerton Parks Junior High School & La Habra’s Rancho Starbuck Intermediate School joined the Sunny Hills Band to perform the National Anthem.

—Beckman coach Marcello Giuliano’s first head football coaching job was at Sunny Hills in 2008. He later coached at Pacifica before coming to Beckman where he is in his 11^th year.