Sunny Hills’ head coach Pete Karavedas instructs his defense late in Friday’s 17-10 win over Brea Olinda. (Photos courtesy Jim McCormack, For OC Sports Zone)
Sunny Hills High, whose offense had scored 90 points in its first two games, found the end zone a difficult place to find Friday night against a resilient Brea Olinda defense.
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Held without a touchdown through the first half, the Lancers punched across scores in the third and fourth quarters to frustrate a Wildcat team that was a relentless opponent all night to win 17-10.
Taking the kickoff after Brea kicker Kyle O’Brien had tied the score at 10 with a 32-yard field goal with 9:32 to play, the Lancers chewed up much of the clock and drove nearly the length of the field for the game-winning score, a 2-yard run by Jun Ahn with 3:12 left.
The march was a mixture of runs, mostly by the yeoman Ahn, and short passes from quarterback Luke Duxbury to receiver Wilson Cal, and a critical penalty on Brea Olinda.
As had happened on two first-half marches, which stalled in inside the Brea 5, the Lancers’ TD chances seemed doomed when a third-and-8 play at the Brea 10 gained nothing.
A Wildcat celebration on the play led to an unsportsmanlike penalty, however, and resulted in a first down at the five. Uhn took care of the final five yards on two tough running plays, the last from the two.
Both teams played very well on defense, Sunny Hills stifling the Brea attack much of the evening with the exception of the Wildcats’ first drive of the second half when they took the kickoff and zipped down the field, scoring on a 35-yard pass from Justus Thongphrachanh to Tyler Barron.
The Brea Olinda defense, led by defensive backs Ethan Parish and Aidan Toms, who had an end zone interception, was just as challenging, giving up more yardage, but keeping the Sunny Hills offense off balance much of the evening.
The Lancers scored their only points of the first half on a 22-yard field goal by Mathias Brown and then added a third-quarter TD on a 20-yard pass from Duxbury to Vince Silva.
Sunny Hills wraps up its non-league schedule hosting Gahr at Buena Park High School next Friday while Brea Olinda plays its third Freeway League team in four games when it travels to Fullerton High.
-Courtesy Jim McCormack, For OC Sports Zone
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Jim McCormack for OC Sports Zone
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