Brandon Roberts celebrates a touchdown with teammates Vince Silva (22) and Noah Brown (24). (Photos courtesy Jim McCormack for OC Sports Zone)
Sunny Hills football coach Peter Karavedas knew the key to winning Friday’s city rivalry game with Fullerton High.
“We practiced well all week,” he said of the Lancers, “and I knew if it was a game of strength and discipline we’d be fine. If it were a game of broken plays and a track meet, we’d have problems.”
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Friday’s game had some of both, but, far more on the strength and discipline side of the ledger as the Lancers improved to 7-2 on the season, 3-1 in the Freeway League with a 56-21 drubbing of the Indians.
The contest was ostensibly decided in a 9-minute window in the second quarter when Sunny Hills, leading 7-0 after one, erupted for 28 points.
The explosion had a typical Sunny Hills igniter, senior running back Jun Ahn, who ran 20 yards for his second TD of the night. On the evening, Ahn would rush for three TDs and catch a pass for another and has now visited the end zone 19 times this season.
Senior Vince Silva was next with a 21-yard scoring dash for a 21-0 lead with 6:24 remaining in the quarter.
The drubbing intensified in the final 1:29 of the half when the dominating Lancer defense, combined with a poor Fullerton kicking game, led to scores by Brandon Roberts who caught a 42-yard pass from Luke Duxbury, and Ahn, who caught a 3-yarder from Duxbury with 11 seconds left in the half.
The track meet phase of the game came in the third quarter when Fullerton’s Jeremiah Smith fielded the kickoff, took a few steps to his right and then threw a cross-field lateral to Jacob Garcia who sprinted 85 yards for the Indians’ first touchdown.
Later in the third quarter, after a bad snap on a Sunny Hills punt gave Fullerton great field position, Smith ran 10 yards out of the Wildcat formation to trim the Lancers’ advantage to 35-14.
Sunny Hills reestablished some order when David Harris ran 11 yards for a score seconds into the final quarter, but Fullerton wasn’t out of tricks yet. On this kickoff, Smith faked the cross-field lateral, kept the ball and dashed 85 yards for Fullerton’s third TD of the second half.
The fun times for Fullerton ended there, however, as Sunny Hills scored twice, the first on Duxbury’s third TD pass of the game, a 24-yarder to a wide-open Noah Brown and then Ahn ran 2 yards for his fourth TD of the night.
The victory ensured Sunny Hills, ranked No. 2 in Division 8, a berth in the CIF playoffs. The Lancers wrap up their regular season next Friday at Buena Park High when they host Troy on Senior Night. A win over Troy would give the Lancers a lock on the city for the second year in a row.
The Indians (5-4, 2-2) host Buena Park and could secure a spot in the playoffs.
—Courtesy Jim McCormack for OC Sports Zone
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