Laguna Beach quarterback Will Bingham takes a snap in Friday’s game vs. Segerstrom. (Photos courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone)
Quarterback Will Bingham threw two of his four touchdown passes in the second half and Laguna Beach’s defense tightened up to help the Breakers defeat Segerstrom 27-14 in a non-league game Friday night at Segerstrom High.
Laguna Beach won its fifth consecutive game to improve its record to 6-1.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo:
Photo courtesy Mark Bausman/For OC Sports Zone
Photo courtesy Mark Bausman/For OC Sports Zone
Photo courtesy Mark Bausman/For OC Sports Zone
Photo courtesy Mark Bausman/For OC Sports Zone
Photo courtesy Mark Bausman/For OC Sports Zone
Photo courtesy Mark Bausman/For OC Sports Zone
Photo courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone
Photo Tom Connolly/For OC Sports Zone
Photo Tom Connolly/For OC Sports Zone
Trailing 14-13 at the half, Laguna Beach moved 63 yards in eight-plays on its first possession of the second half to take the lead. Bingham completed the scoring drive by firing an 11-yard TD pass to Luke Degner on a fourth-down play as the Breakers went up 20-14. In the fourth quarter, Laguna Beach put the game away as Bingham connected on a 14-yard touchdown pass to Degner to extend its lead to 27-14.
Four times in the second half, the Jaguars had the ball in Laguna Beach territory but Segerstrom couldn’t capitalize. Three times they were stopped on downs and one time the Breakers intercepted a pass to foil a Jaguars scoring opportunity.
“We played hard and took the short passes underneath and when we got the opportunity, we over the top,” said Bingham, who completed 28 of 39 passes for 329 yards, to go along his four TDs.
Degner said the Breakers proved something special on Friday.
“We proved we can out-physical a team tonight,” Degner said. “It’s awesome to be 6-1; we stood together and we finished strong.”
Laguna Beach Coach John Shanahan said Degner is one of the best receivers in Orange County.
“We feel if anyone tries to cover Luke one-on-one, we’re going to win,” said Shanahan. “He’s savvy, he’s smart and he’s fast and he’s impossible to cover one-on-one.”
Degner caught 10 passes for 150 yards and three scores.
Segerstrom broke on top first in the opening quarter. Erik Martinez intercepted a Laguna Beach pass to halt a Breakers drive. He then caught a 32-yard pass from Frankie Gonzalez that gave Segerstrom the ball inside the Laguna Beach 10-yard line. Martinez capped the 78-yard drive with an 8-yard TD run at the 4:54 mark. Laguna Beach countered with a 6-play, 60-yard scoring drive and tied the score 7-7 on a 27-yard pass from Bingham to Degner with 1:38 remaining in the first quarter.
Segerstrom put together an impressive 12-play, 60-yard scoring drive to regain the lead in the second quarter. Gonzalez scored on a quarterback sneak on a fourth-down play to give the Jaguars a 14-7 lead with 59 seconds left in the half. However, the Breakers scored on a spectacular 62-yard catch and run by Jacob Diver. The Breakers missed the extra point attempt and trailed 14-13 at halftime.
Gonzalez passed for 118 yards and rushed for another 60 yards and Noble Acosta added 80 yards on the ground for the Jaguars (1-5). Alijah Sadler caught four passes for 50 yards. Ryan Swanson caught eight passes for 74 yards for the Breakers.
“We’re competitive and we want to win and these games are lessons learned for us as we get near to league play,” said Segerstrom Coach Joseph Tagaloa. “It’s frustrating and I feel it was more about us not executing tonight than it was their successes. We had opportunities and we didn’t make the big plays, but overall I feel we are still getting better.”
—Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone
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