South Hills High School Varsity Football Team

COVINA – South Hills High School has been one of the area’s top football programs in the past decade. But that mattered little to Tesoro on Thursday night.

Brett Mason passed for 248 yards and three touchdowns and Zach Mitchell rushed for 80 and a touchdown and the visiting Titans rolled to a 34-21 victory over the Huskies in a nonleague game at Covina District Field.

Tesoro, which advanced to the CIF-Southern Section Pac-5 Division finals last season, held a 455-188 advantage in yards to improve to 2-2. The Titans held a 397-60 edge through three quarters. The Huskies, getting two scores from Geoffrey Vaughns, slipped to 1-2.

“It was big plays,” South Hills coach Steve Bogan said. “No one took the ball and went boom-boom down the field. Big plays hurt us. We had a chance early, but we shot ourselves in the foot and when you play a very good football team, this is what happens.”

Both teams traded big plays in the first quarter.

Tesoro receiver Kyle Woolbright, who had four receptions for 133 yards and two touchdowns, turned a short pass into a 64-yard score and a 7-0 lead with 5:56 left in the first quarter.

The Titans were looking to increase the edge to two touchdowns when Vaughns stepped in front of a flat pass and returned it 80 yards for a score to make it 7-6 with 24 seconds left in the quarter.

But Tesoro led 21-6 at halftime following Mason scoring passes of 46 and 70 yards to Cody Wittick and Woolbright in the second quarter.

Trevor Weis ran 65 yards to make it 28-6 on the second play of the third quarter.

South Hills made it 34-21 on a 55-yard scoring run by Vaughns and a 21-yard pass from Vincent Hernandez to Dakota Behr in the final quarter.

San Gabriel Valley Tribune ~ http://www.sgvtribune.com/preps/ci_13416823

La Habra High School’s scheme was simple.

But stopping it proved to be quite difficult.

Joshua Quezada rushed for 203 yards and four touchdowns and the Highlanders rolled to a 37-10 victory over visiting South Hills in a nonleague game on Thursday.

Quezada, who had 124 yards rushing in the first half, scored on runs of 12, 2, 1 and 4 yards as La Habra improved to 2-0. The Huskies, who trailed just 17-10 at halftime, slipped to 1-1. It doesn’t get any easier for South Hills, which hosts Orange County power Tesoro next Thursday at Covina District Field.

“We were beat by a better football team. That’s all there is to it,” said South Hills coach Steve Bogan, whose Huskies were limited to just eight rushing yards and 139 yards total. “They are just a better football team.

“(Quezada) is phenomenal. We played good at moments, but we got out-hit, they tackled better, blocked better. It was basic fundamental stuff, nothing schematic. They were just a better football team.”

But South Hills had its opportunities, at least early on.

Nieko Padilla set up the Huskies on the first series, intercepting a Cody Clements pass and returning it 21 yards to the La Habra 21. But South Hills could only settle for a 42-yard field goal by Austin Daugherty and a 3-0 lead with 8:39 left in the first quarter.

Quezada then rolled to a 37-yard run. Brett Bartolone followed with a 48-yard reception before Quezada went 12 yards for a 7-3 lead with 7:29 remaining in the quarter.

But the Huskies, who gave up a 30-yard field goal from Sean Wale for a 10-3 Highlanders lead at 5:39, didn’t give in. They took advantage of an ill-advised fake punt and tied it at 10-10 following a 14-yard pass from Brock Booth to Dakota Behr and a 10-yard throw from Booth to Ify Umodu with 9:30 left in the first half.

“It was just a fade to Ify,” said Booth, who completed 14 of 25 passes for 124 yards. “He just went up and got it. It was a great catch.”

But the Huskies couldn’t stop Quezada and the Highlanders.

Clements threw a key 27-yard strike to Bartolone to the South Hills 35. Quezada then did the rest, carrying four times for 19 yards, the final 2 for a 17-10 lead with three minutes left in the half.

“We still felt we were in it at the half,” Brock said. “But we let up and they didn’t.”

The Highlanders then put it away. They stopped South Hills in three plays and took a 24-10 lead on Quezada’s 1-yard run with 8:58 left in the third quarter.

Aaron Porter then intercepted Booth and returned it to the South Hills 10. Quezada followed with an 8-yard run before Clements threw 2 yards to Porter to make it 31-10 with 7:51 remaining. Quezada added a 4-yard TD in the fourth quarter to account for the 37-10 final.

“We did some things well,” Bogan said. “But like a good football team, they kept out-hitting our guys and out-hitting our guys and eventually wore our guys down and won the game.

“That’s what it was. They are just a better football team right now. We’re a good football team, but we got beat by a better one.”

~ San Gabriel Valley Tribune – http://www.sgvtribune.com/preps/ci_13364464

South Hills relies on defense in 21-3 win over Ayala

South Hills’ Jamel Hart (4) runs for yardage in the first half during a football game between Ayala and South Hills at Covina District Field on Friday, September 11, 2009, in Covina.

COVINA – South Hills High School’s offense might be a work in progress, but the Huskies’ defense gave visiting Ayala fits on Friday at Covina District Field.

The Huskies forced five turnovers and intercepted Bulldogs quarterback Ryan Orozco four times to turn a close game into a 21-3 nonleague victory.

They also limited the Bulldogs to just 32 yards rushing and would have had a shutout if not for Jacob Osborne’s 35-yard field goal with 46 seconds left.

“We kind of sensed that this could be a night like this, but the key was the turnovers,” Huskies coach Steve Bogan said of their season- opening win. “That forces them to call a different game, and then things start working in your favor.”

South Hills quarterback Brock Booth struggled in the first half but had a big 13-yard first-down pass to Vince Hernandez. Sophomore running back Jamel Hart followed with a 29-yard run.

That set up Hart’s 2-yard touchdown run with 2:36 left in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead.

Ayala, meanwhile, had three of its five turnovers in the first half, one an interception in the end zone.

“No matter what level, you can’t turn the ball over five times and expect to win,” Bulldogs coach Tom Inglima said. “And yet we’re still in the game, in my mind.

“You look at halftime, we have three turnovers and we’re only down 7-0.”

The backbreaker for the Bulldogs came late in the third quarter when Booth pitched out to Hernandez, who faked a run and threw a 33-yard scoring pass to Ify Umodo for a 14-0 lead with 1:12 left.

“That sudden change caught them off-guard,” Bogan said. “We thought it was a good time to take a shot, and we got it done.”

Hart, who finished with 56 yards on 16 carries, provided the finishing touches with his second touchdown, a 1-yard run with 10:12 left for a 21-0 lead.

Not bad for just a sophomore.

“Our execution was not perfect, but we were able to pound away from time to time with (Hart). He’s going to be a good one,” Bogan said. “His brother (Justin) is going to USC, so you know there is some good DNA there.”

Considering all the uncertainty of not knowing whether the Huskies would have senior running back Jordan Canada, who has been ruled ineligible after transferring from Duarte but has filed an appeal and is hoping to join the team at some point, starting 1-0 against a talented team was pleasing to Bogan.

Ayala dropped to 1-1.

“Even when you know you have some talented players, there is always the uncertainly of a new season,” he said.

~ San Gabriel Valley Tribune – http://www.sgvtribune.com/preps/ci_13322358