Advertisement

Road to test Oilers again

Share

For the second time in its first four games, the Huntington Beach High football team hits the road for a key nonleague showdown in south Orange County.

On Thursday, the Oilers are at Trabuco Hills for a 7 p.m. game with the Mustangs. Huntington started its season Aug. 23 at El Toro.

“It’s another tough road test for our young team, for sure,” said Huntington Coach Eric Lo, whose team is ranked seventh in this week’s CIF Southern Section Southwest Division poll.

Advertisement

The Huntington-Trabuco Hills games starts a five-game schedule this week for the local teams. Edison, Fountain Valley, Marina and Ocean View each play nonleague games Friday. Brethren Christian is idle this week.

Huntington heads to Trabuco Hills (2-1) with a 1-2 record. Miscues played a big part last week in the Oilers’ 20-13 loss to JSerra. The Oilers turned the ball over four times, committed nine penalties and had a blocked punt late in the fourth quarter.

Huntington junior quarterback Kai Ross rushed for 112 yards, getting 66 of them on a touchdown run.

“Defensively, we played really well but our mistakes, and that blocked punt, really hurt us,” Lo said. “We need to clean things up, and force mistakes against Trabuco, if we want to have a chance.”

*

Friday

Edison (2-0) vs. Servite (1-1), 7:30 p.m., Cerritos College: The Chargers and Friars, who are getting together for the 13th consecutive year in nonleague play, clash in a key game.

The teams have split their last 12 fall meetings. They also have met in three postseason games since the 2000 season, including the 2009 Pac-5 Division title game won by Servite. In the last 15 games between the schools since 2000, Edison leads the series, 8-7.

“It’s been a great rivalry,” Edison Coach Dave White said.

Edison, ranked second in the Southwest Division, is coming off a 27-7 victory over Villa Park, the No. 4 team in the division. The Chargers ran up a 27-0 lead before the Spartans scored late in the fourth quarter. Senior linebacker Robert Reyes started the scoring when he returned an interception 65 yards for a touchdown. Senior running back Marquis Ross accounted for the rest of Edison’s scoring, reaching the end zone on runs of 30, 13 and eight yards.

Servite, which suffered a 40-23 loss at Bishop Amat to start the season, avoided an uncharacteristic 0-2 start by rallying from a 20-point deficit to pull out a 24-23 victory over host Rancho Cucamonga last Friday. Halfback Andrew Moore rushed for two touchdowns including the game-winning score.

“They are a run-oriented team, and we need to keep them in check,” White said of the Friars. “We need to slow down their run game. If we don’t, it will be a long night.

Downey (2-1) vs. Fountain Valley (2-1), 7 p.m., Huntington Beach High: Fountain Valley goes after its third consecutive win when it hosts Downey.

The Barons picked up victory No. 2 on Sept. 6 by routing Corona, 42-14. Senior quarterback Chris d’Entremont led the big win. He completed 14 of 16 passes for 180 yards and threw three touchdown passes to senior receiver Jason Baker. He also rushed for three scores and finished with 250 yards of offense. Senior running back Steele Escobedo led all rushers with 122 yards.

“Chris played really well,” Fountain Valley Coach John Shipp said.

Downey’s only loss was a one-point setback (28-27) against La Serna, the top-ranked team in the Southeast Division, two weeks ago. The Vikings, No. 6 in this week’s Southeast Division poll, last week defeated Schurr, 24-14.

Marina (2-1) vs. San Juan Hills (3-0), 7 p.m., San Juan Hills High: Marina goes on the road for the first time this season and puts its two-game win streak on the line when it takes on undefeated San Juan Hills.

The Vikings last week knocked off rival Westminster, 21-14, in the annual Black and Blue Game between the schools.

Marina Coach George Pascoe said mistakes nearly cost the Vikings.

“Too many penalties kept them in [the] game,” he said. “Westminster is big and physical and played very well. We adjusted and controlled the game in the second half, until their late score.”

San Juan Hills got its third victory last week by winning, 38-13, at Artesia.

“They are 3-0 and playing very well on both sides of the ball,” Pascoe said. “We need to clean up our game to keep this as good a game as it looks to be on paper.”

Cerritos (0-3) vs. Ocean View (0-2), 7 p.m., Ocean View High: Ocean View is seeking its first win of the season against Cerritos and hosts a Dons team that has struggled in their first three games.

Ocean View dropped its second game last week, 45-0, to Estancia, the third-ranked team in the Southern Division. Senior running back Nathan Kwon, a transfer from Roosevelt High in Eastvale, was a bright spot in the loss. Kwon rushed for a team-high 61 yards on 11 carries.

“We simply faced a superior team that we were not ready for yet,” Ocean View Coach Luis Nunez said. “We are far from where we know we can be and the kids will take that from this lost. We will continue to work hard and get better everyday next week.”

The Seahawks are taking on a Cerritos team that has yet to score a point this season. The Dons have given up an average of 61 points a game, with losses to Buena Park (74-0), Morningside (58-0) and last week to Gahr (53-0).

Bye week: Brethren Christian (3-0): The Warriors head into a bye week coming off a stirring win over Century on Saturday. BC fell behind, 22-0, in the game’s first five minutes but roared back to score the next 49 points. The Warriors went on to claim a 56-38 nonleague victory at Santa Ana Stadium.

“It was amazing to see the grit and confidence our team displayed against a very tough opponent in climbing out of a very deep hole,” BC Coach Pat McInally said.

For the third time in as many games, junior quarterback Jack McInally threw six touchdown passes. The Orange County leader in scoring passes (18) finished 16 of 30 for 291 yards. Junior Austin Gorrell was on the receiving end of three of those scoring passes, sophomore Brandon Bryson had two touchdown receptions and sophomore Guy Demazeliere caught another.

BC resumes play Sept. 21 when it travels to Long Beach for a 7 p.m. nonleague game against St. Anthony.

“So far, we’ve proven to have a tough, opportunistic defense, a diverse passing game and a sneaky ground attack,” Pat McInally said. “We’re young, with only five seniors on the squad, but focused. What a great group to coach.”

michael.sciacca@latimes.com

Twitter: @MikeSciacca

Advertisement