Orange’s Miguel Orendain Jr. picks up yards in Friday’s game vs. Irvine.
Orange High quarterback Daylen Pedroza scored a career-high four touchdowns as the Panthers cruised to a 52-15 non-league victory over Irvine Friday night at Irvine Stadium.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo.
After dropping their season opener to Garden Grove, the Panthers (4-1) have won four consecutive games while the Vaqueros, after notching their first win of the season last week over Dana Hills, fell to 1-4. Orange’s four victories have been by an average of 35.6 points per game.
Pedroza, a sophomore, rushed for 165 yards and scored on runs of 14, three, one and 15 yards.
“It’s all about our offensive line,” said Pedroza. “Without them, we wouldn’t be on the scoreboard. They open holes and we fill the gaps and we’re looking good going into league.”
Orange’s coach Robert Pedroza was also impressed with his quarterback and his offensive line’s play.
“He’s (Pedroza) a stud and he’s athletic,” said Pedroza. “We like how our line has been able to take over games. We felt like we could run against them coming in here tonight.”
Aside from Pedroza’s 165 yards rushing, the Panthers combined for another 216 yards on the ground and finished with 381 yards rushing for the game.
“We practice running the ball hard and moving people,” said Orange offensive lineman Anthony Garcia. “Our mindset is to gain as many yards and score as many points as possible every game.”
The Panthers took the opening kick-off and marched 79 yards in 15 plays to take an 8-0 lead. Pedroza engineered the scoring drive that featured two faked punts that Pedroza converted into crucial first down runs. Pedroza capped the drive with a 14-yard TD run. Dylan Moses ran in the two-point conversion.
Following an Irvine three-and-out, the Panthers quickly drove 51 yards in seven plays to up its lead to 16-0 late in the first quarter. Pedroza raced in from three yards for the touchdown.
After being assessed three costly personal foul penalties in the opening quarter, the Vaqueros offense finally got on track.
Quarterback Marc Filia guided Irvine on a nine-play, 87-yard scoring drive to get the Vaqueros on the scoreboard. The key play on the drive was a short pass that Tyson Matthews caught from Filia.
The senior running back back broke several tackles before being brought down at the Panthers nine-yard line after a 29-yard gain. Two plays later, Filia tossed a 3-yard TD pass to Lorenzo Bazzani to cut the lead to 16-7 at the 9:55 mark of the second quarter.
However, Irvine couldn’t capitalize. Orange scored twice in the final minute of the half to increase its lead to 25-7 at the break. Jeremiah Rivera scored on a 9-yard TD run and Nick Guzman added a 37-yard field goal as time ran out to give the Panthers a comfortable halftime lead.
Orange racked up 193 yards on the ground in the first half while limiting Irvine to 28 yards rushing in the opening half.
Filia capped a long second half drive for the Vaqueros with a 1-yard TD run for Irvine’s other score. He completed 13 passes for 151 yards and a TD but he had numerous passes dropped. He also rushed for 55 yards.
“I told our guys after the game, tomorrow we start a new, we’re 0-0,” said Irvine coach Erik Terry. “We challenged them with a tough and physical preseason schedule. I don’t think we’ll face a more physical team than we did tonight in our league, but we now know our weaknesses and we’ll correct them. Our goal is to finish first or second in league and make the playoffs.”
STATS
OHS 16 09 14 13 – 52
IHS 00 07 08 00 – 15
RUSHING: OHS, Pedroza 20-165, Moses 10-78; IRV, Filia 5-55
PASSING: OHS, Pedroza 7-10-0, 67 yards; IRV, Filia 13-25-1, 153 yards, TD
RECEIVING: OHS, Andrade, 2-28, Estrada 2-31; IRV, Sears 5-47, Tanikawa 4-56.
-Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone
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