Clark Phillips III lost his helmet but held on to the football on this TD reception early in La Habra’s 49-7 Freeway League win over Sunny Hills Friday night. The defender is Jun Ahn. (Photos courtesy Jim McCormack, For OC Sports Zone)
Talking to a reporter Friday night Clark Phillips III made it a point to emphasize “the III.”
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The reporter’s response: “I and II must be very proud of you.”
To which Clark Phillips III said, “they’re in the stands tonight.”
And they had many reasons to be proud of “The III’s” play as his La Habra High football team left little doubt that the Highlanders own the Freeway League after dismantling contender Sunny Hills 49-7 at Buena Park High School.
Phillips III caught two of Ryan Zanelli’s five touchdown passes and made the game’s key defensive play as the Highlanders (6-2, 3-0) virtually assured themselves of a 12th league title in 13 seasons while winning a Freeway League game for the 62nd time in their last 63 contests.
Sunny Hills (6-2, 2-1) now turns its attention to the Battle for Fullerton with games at Fullerton Friday and a home game vs. Troy Friday, Nov. 1. Both teams are focusing on the playoffs where La Habra has grand designs in Division 3 and Sunny Hills has similar goals in Division 8.
The sense that Sunny Hills might have upset potential disappeared early Friday when La Habra’s Kris Koontz returned the opening kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown before the game was 15 seconds old.
Sunny Hills responded with a momentarily encouraging drive that led to Phillips III first big play of the night. Committed to Ohio State as a defensive back, Clark ran down Sunny Hills’ Jun Ahn after a 63-yard gain, knocking the ball loose, a teammate recovering the fumble.
Additionally, in a precursor to a flag-filled night, a Sunny Hills offensive lineman was called for a helmet-to-helmet hit. With the ball, and the 15 yards, La Habra moved quickly downfield where Zanelli threw his first TD pass, a 10-yarder to Phillips III who held onto the ball inspite of losing his helmet on the play.
Phillips III caught a 15-yard TD strike from Zanelli for a second-quarter TD and La Habra pushed its lead to 28-0 when Zanelli hit Max Franco with 49-yard strike minutes later.
Sunny Hills’ lone scoring drive came at the start of the third quarter when the Lancers drove to the Highlanders’ one, officials ruling Ahn had squeezed into the end zone on a 4th-and-1 play.
La Habra coach Frank Mazzotta was happy with his team’s play.
“I don’t like peaks and valleys,” Mazzotta said. “I want my team to be very business like it what it does and I thought we did that tonight.”
RELATED: Zanelli throws five TD passes to lead Highlanders
-Courtesy Jim McCormack, For OC Sports Zone
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