El Toro Rolls Over El Dorado

El Toro High School had El Dorado’s number early, and the lucky number was seven--the number of fumbles El Dorado committed and the number of touchdowns the Chargers scored en route to a 49-2 rout in front of 1,500 at Mission Viejo High School Thursday night.

In the season opener for both teams, El Toro scored all its touchdowns in the first half. It was clear from the opening drive that El Dorado was outclassed. It took El Toro only four plays and less than two minutes to score on a 51-yard pass from Steve Stenstrom to Rob Johnson.

On its first possession, El Dorado gained four yards before being forced to punt.

That the score was not more lopsided is a tribute to Charger Coach Bob Johnson, who:

A. Wanted to welcome El Dorado’s first-year coach, Rick Jones, gently.

B. Wanted to play all 53 of his players.

C. Is not the type to run up the score.

D. Took pity on the Golden Hawks.

E. All of the above.

“When a team’s beat, they’re beat,” Johnson said. Johnson went three deep into his quarterbacks and kept the ball on the ground most of the second half.

Stenstrom completed four of five passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns, both to Johnson. He also carried twice for 31 yards. With the score 28-0 after one quarter, he was replaced by Johnson, who completed four of four passes for 33 yards and two touchdowns in one quarter.

He then gave way to Brad Milby, who completed three passes for 28 yards.

“We’re very deep at quarterback,” Johnson said. “We’ve got the best quarterback in the (South Coast) league and the second-best quarterback in the league.”

The Golden Hawks made slight progress in the second half, when backup quarterback Jason Bluth went against El Toro’s reserves. Bluth completed one of two passes for 16 yards and carried five times for 36 yards.