PHOTOS: Sunny Hills coach gets a shave then prepares for state regional playoff game

Sunny Hills players held a night practice Thursday to get ready for Saturday’s regional. (Photos courtesy Jim McCormack, For OC Sports Zone)

The first thing Pete Karavedas wanted to do when he returned home early Sunday morning was shave. “I almost shaved at 2 a.m., but I waited until the next morning,” Karavedas said.

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He shaved the day after his Sunny Hills Lancers lost their season opener to Aliso Niguel and then decided he wouldn’t shave again until after his team’s 14th game, which was Saturday, when the Lancers edged host Santa Barbara 24-21 to win the CIF’s Division 8 football title at San Marcos High School.

That win earned the Lancers (12-2) another game, a Southern California Division III regional matchup Saturday night at Bakersfield Christian Saturday at 6 p.m.

Another game, though, was the last thing on the Lancers’ mind as they were in no rush to leave the field while celebrating only the school’s second CIF football title ever.

The interest in Game 15 has intensified.

“Definitely,” says Karavedas. “We celebrated the win Saturday and Sunday, took Monday off (the players took the day off, not the coaches) and then started going through game plans and the itch came back. ‘Alright,’ we said, ‘let’s go make some more history.’”

And his kids have responded. “You can’t play a high school game at anything less than 100 percent,” says Karavedas.

Bakersfield Christian will be a difficult opponent after winning the CIF Central Division 3 title while averaging 37 points a game in the playoffs.

“I think it is a good matchup, based on Maxprep rankings (Sunny Hills 111 in state, Bakersfield Christian is 131),” says Karavedas. The Eagles are led by Stanford commit Ben Yurosek, a 6-5, 220- pound tight end.

“We don’t have any big time recruits,” says Karavedas. “We’re just a bunch of 5-11 guys that are playing really hard.”

Sunny Hills’ run through the playoffs has been jaw-droppingly dramatic. Three of the Lancers’ four victories have been decided in the fourth quarter and in the semifinal (defeat Trabuco Hills, 34- 31) and finals (beat Santa Barbara (24-21) have certainly left their opponents wondering what happened.

What has happened is that Sunny Hills has played exceptional football. Its “name” players, linebacker Carson Irons, quarterback Luke Duxbury, running back Jun Ahn and wide receiver/defensive back Wilson Cal have played very well and they have been supported by a number of different teammates.

Take Vince Silva for example. The junior, a steady player all season, has been exceptional in the last two games, scoring six of the Lancers’ seven TDs in that span including all three in the title game.

Against Santa Barbara he ran nine yards for the Lancers’ first TD and then caught Duxbury passes of 5 and 58 yards, the last, with 1:38 to play, being the game-winner. He also recorded 11 tackles on defense.

“At the start of the season we knew Vince was a good player, but we weren’t sure where to play him,’ says Karavedas.

So they’ve played him everywhere. He is the team’s second- leading rusher, tackler and scorer.

Another of Saturday’s unsung heroes was guard/middle guard Kenny Lathrum, who blunted a Santa Barbara drive with a crucial interception.

The Golden Tornado had scored on its first two possessions for 14-3 lead midway through the second quarter and appeared headed for a third score when Lathrum made a leaping interception of a screen pass, settling on a short-field drive for Silva’s touchdown run. Santa Barbara didn’t score again until the fourth quarter.

Karavedas also singled out punter Dominic Geib who used all of his 6-foot-3 frame to snag two errant snaps on punts and managed to kick the ball up-field. The field flips on both plays had to be more than 60 yards.

“If it doesn’t go that way, we would have ended up in a tough spot,” Karavedas said.

The fifth-year coach was also pleased with the play of the Lancers’ running attack, which had struggled in the win over Trabuco Hills.

Ahn carried the ball 30 times for 142 yards, Silva added 66 on 11 carries and Brandon Roberts had 38 on six carries.

As everyone knows, the running game depends, ultimately, on the offensive line and Karavedas had praised for Brian Chang and Alex Solis, listing Solis as one of the team leaders all season.

Story courtesy Jim McCormack for OC Sports Zone