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Locals have success on gridiron

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Saturday turned out to be a successful day on the gridiron for Huntington Beach Jr. All-American Football teams, which posted a 4-1 record.

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Clinic Division

Huntington Beach 40, Rowland Heights 0: Chandler Fincher’s first-quarter touchdown run started the scoring blitz for the Oilers, who went on to rout the Raiders at Huntington Beach High’s Cap Sheue Field.

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Ryan Rector scored Huntington’s second touchdown on a second-quarter run and the defense, led by Trent Fletcher, Nate Orourke, Ethan Howard and Nate Scott, held the Raiders scoreless as the Oilers took a 14-0 halftime lead. Fincher scored twice more in a third quarter that saw Seif Youssef intercept a pass and also catch a conversion pass.

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Jr. Clinic Division

Huntington Beach 44, South Orange County 0: The Oilers ran out to a 26-0 halftime lead on the Patriots and cruised to victory at Cap Sheue Field.

Dominic Peseti and Aden Eckenwiler scored on runs, Nate Skorheim ran for an extra-point and the Oilers defense didn’t allow a first down in a first quarter that ended with Huntington holding a 13-0 advantage. Skorheim rushed for a second-quarter touchdown and Tristan Britt ran for the extra-point. Troy Fletcher rushed for Huntington’s final touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Daryeus Smolenski, Cade Jackman and middle linebacker Jonah Del Rosario helped lead Huntington’s defensive charge.

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Pee Wee Division

Huntington Beach 30, Whittier 6: An interception return by safety Nicholas Favazza got the Oilers rolling to a big win over the Trojans at Whittier High.

Favazza also had key runs on offense, Trevor Klasson had four solo tackles, a sack and, along with Michael Lombardo, Jerry Hudson and Daniel Taffolla, played solidly on both sides of the ball. Jack Karapetian, Brandon Moradian, Chris Bailey, Brandon Moradian, William Stroud, Wayne Ponce, Tristen Rouer, Cade Siegrist, Christian Gilbert and Jake Armstrong also made contributions in the win.

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Jr. Midget Division

Huntington Beach 32, Whittier 14: The Oilers overcame a 14-point second-quarter deficit to defeat the visiting Trojans Saturday at Cap Sheue Field. It was the second win for the Oilers, who last week opened their season with a 34-6 win over Corona.

Down by 14 points in the second quarter, Huntington turned to its running game, running behind the lead blocking of Brad Partch and Colton Glenn. Big runs by Jordin Ball, Cayson Fincher, Liam Jimmons and first-year player Samuel Harnisch took the locals down to the Whittier five-yard line, where Jimmons did the scoring honors. The game turned when Harnisch scored on a 53-yard punt return that put the Oilers up, 16-14, at the half.

Huntington scored 16 unanswered points with five minutes left in the third quarter on 35- and 15-yard touchdown runs by Fincher, the latter set up after the recovery of an onside kick by Max Cervantes.

The Oilers host Downey (0-2) at 3 p.m. Saturday at Huntington Beach High.

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Jr. Future Division

Orange 12, Huntington Beach 6: A defensive battle at Cap Sheue Field ended with Orange scoring the go-ahead touchdown with three minutes left to edge the host Oilers.

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Huntington Beach Pop Warner Football

Pee Wee Division

Huntington Beach 18, Lakewood 0: The Chargers improved to 3-1 by shutting out the Lancers.

Huntington’s first scoring drive was set up by runs from Aaron Jones and Dacorian Turner that led to a 10-yard touchdown pass from Griffin O’Connor to Joe Flannery. The Chargers defense, keyed by the tackling of Chase Ault, Nick Warren and a touchdown-saving stop by Sherman Thomas, stopped Lakewood on its first possession at the Edison three-yard line. The Chargers offense then went on a 97-yard drive, highlighted by a 65-yard run by Cameron Gonzales and culminated by a touchdown run by Jones for his first score of the season.

Quarterback Dylan Alcantara guided a nice drive that led to Huntington’s final score. Turner ran the ball to the Lakewood one-yard line, where he was stripped of the ball but Jones was able to recover the fumble for a touchdown.

Huntington hosts the Saddleback Valley Chargers at 10 a.m. Saturday at Edison High.

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Mighty Mite Division

Lakewood 19, Huntington Beach 0: The Green Chargers got off to a fast start but found themselves on the wrong end of a few big plays in a 19-0 loss to the Lakewood Lancers Saturday at Edison High.

The Chargers took the opening possession and drove from their own 48-yard-line to inside the Lancers’ five-yard line on 13 plays. Christopher Soto keyed the drive with a couple big running plays, including a 19-yard run on fourth-and-10 on a quarterback bootleg. Ryan Karns also had success running the ball for the Chargers, his biggest run going for 10 yards on a third-and-10 from the Lancers’ 18. But on the 14th play of the drive, the Chargers fumbled the ball away to the Lancers.

Soto led the Chargers in rushing with 83 yards on 11 carries. Karns rushed for 25 yards and also had a fumble recovery, Dillon Blake had an interception and Mateo Lopez also had a big day defensively with several tackles. Lakewood scored its touchdowns on three running plays covering 65, 39 and 12 yards.

“You’ve got to keep it positive,” Chargers Coach Dareld Karns said. “We had a fumble recovery and an interception defensively. Soto did a great job running the ball — he’s got wheels. And Karns ran the ball hard. But I’d like to see us work in our passing game.”

— Joe Haakenson

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Junior Midget Division

Huntington Beach 43, San Clemente 20: The Gold Chargers won their fourth game of the season by downing the Tritons in a battle of undefeated teams Saturday.

Huntington Beach’s first drive down field proved to be a success as Christian Baskharoon scored on a four-yard run and Michael Pierson kicked the two-point conversion. In the second quarter, Gasper Ramirez scored on a short run and Pierson provided the conversion kick to cap a long drive. David Atencio juked his way through the Tritons’ defense for a 20-yard scoring run and Quentin Sandoval ran in for the extra point. The highlight of the second quarter was a 40-yard pass by Ramirez to Jacob Price that resulted in a another touchdown as the Gold Chargers stormed to a 29-6 halftime lead.

In the second half, Atencio scored on a 32-yard run and Pierson had a five-yard touchdown run and had two more conversion kicks. Ramirez, Atencio, Kenny Carmichael, Jacob Marines and Jack Andros, who led the team in tackles, keyed the defense.

“Without the work of every man on the field, our progression would not continue,” Huntington Coach David Atencio said. “I’m proud of the team as a whole for their record so far and their continued dedication to this game.”

The Gold Chargers host Costa Mesa at 2 p.m. Saturday at Edison High.

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