Freeway League : So, What’s New? La Habra Puts It to Troy

Any talk of the demise of the La Habra High School dynasty in the Freeway League was quickly put to rest Friday night as the Highlanders rolled to a 31-7 victory over Troy at La Habra.

The Highlanders, who have won three consecutive league titles, entered the game with a mediocre 2-2 record and were coming off an equally mediocre performance in a loss to Hacienda Heights Wilson last week.

Troy, 5-0 coming into the game, was supposed to be the likely successor to La Habra as the next league champion. However, the Warriors were victimized by three interceptions and a fumble on an attempted punt in their own end zone.

The decision enabled La Habra to extend its mastery over Troy, which has not beaten the Highlanders since 1974.

“I’d be the last one to say that we didn’t get some breaks tonight,” said La Habra Coach Bob Rau. “But we played hard and beat a great football team.”

The Highlanders’ offense barely worked up a sweat in this one. The longest La Habra had to drive for any of its four touchdowns was 31 yards.

La Habra stunned Troy with two quick touchdowns in the opening four minutes. First, La Habra capitalized on a fumble by Troy running back Todd Murdock that was recovered by Matt Shackelford at the Warrior 20-yard line.

The Highlanders needed only five plays to reach the end zone as fullback Kevin Capps scored on a two-yard run.

La Habra’s second touchdown was also a gift. Troy was unable to move the ball following the kickoff and was forced to punt from its 21-yard line. Quarterback Mike Pawlawski, who does the long snapping for the Warriors in punt situations, hiked the ball far over punter Murdock’s head and into the Warrior end zone.

Murdock unwisely decided to try to run the ball out. He was unable to scoop the ball up and La Habra linebacker George Chavez pounced on it for a touchdown and a 13-0 lead.

Troy’s misfortunes continued late in the second quarter. The Warriors elected to try a fake punt at their own 24-yard line and Murdock gained only one yard as La Habra gained possession with 48 seconds remaining.

Quarterback Matt Shackelford threw a perfectly timed pass to Sal Maldonado for a 25-yard touchdown with 38 seconds remaining and a 20-0 lead. The Highlanders scored another touchdown and added a 45-yard field goal by Jim Dean in the second half.

In other Freeway League action:

Fullerton 34, Buena Park 8--The Indians scored 21 points in the first half and coasted to an easy win in Fullerton District Stadium. Fullerton (1-0, 5-1) had 400 yards in total offense, including 282 yards rushing. The Coyotes (0-1, 0-5-1) gained only 25 yards rushing and 111 yards total offense. Senior tailback Mike Chacon had 130 rushing in 12 carries. He scored touchdowns on runs of 20 and 71 yards.

Rick Gardner scored Buena Park’s only touchdown on an 87-yard kickoff return in the third quarter.

Sunny Hills 31, Sonora 0--The Lancers overcame a sluggish start to coast to their sixth victory without a loss in the league opener for both s at Buena Park High School.

Bryan Edmonds led the Sunny Hills attack with touchdown runs of 6 and 1 yards. Quarterback David Chisum completed 9 of 10 passes for 136 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown pass to Mike McGuire.

Sonora, which picked up its first win last week against Santiago, was held to 55 total yards, with only 13 coming in the second half.