Dana Hills Doesn’t Boot One Away

DANA POINT —  The way things have been going for Dana Hills’ kicking game, the last thing the Dolphins needed was a last-second field goal attempt with the game on the line.

Dana Hills kicker Nathan Wannlund ended a night of frustration with a 42-yard field goal with 52 seconds left to give Dana Hills a 23-20 victory over Capistrano Valley Friday night before a homecoming crowd of more than 5,000.

“I got out there and put my head down and followed through,” said Wannlund, also the Dolphin punter. “I hit the ball where I wanted to and it went in.”

Wannlund had a punt and extra point blocked in the first quarter and he was unable to catch a high snap in the fourth quarter that led to Capistrano Valley’s game-tying touchdown.

“I just tried to block all that other stuff out of my mind and put the ball through,” Wannlund said. “Nate [Pilmer] was having a tough time snapping, but he got that one down. He deserves a lot of credit.”

Dana Hills Coach Scott Orloff said he figured his team was about due for some good luck.

“I had a feeling,” Orloff said. “I thought it was coming. That was a big field goal. We’ve been spending so much time on our kicking game but it hasn’t been paying off. I’m just glad we came through when we needed to.”

Wannlund’s big kick was set up by the running of halfback Julio Peraza, who broke a 21-yard run that took the ball down to the Capistrano Valley 26. Peraza gained 185 yards in 25 carries, 115 of his yards came in the first half.

With the victory, Dana Hills (5-1-1, 1-0-1) wins its first league game in two seasons.

“It’s nice to finally win a league game,” Orloff said. “It feels like we’ve been snake bit. We made a lot of mistakes again tonight, but we overcame it.”

Capistrano Valley (2-3-2, 0-2-0) almost tied for the third time this season.

The Cougars had a final chance to tie the game, but Walker intercepted Capistrano Valley quarterback Jeff Dixon’s pass at midfield as time ran out.

The Cougars tied the game at 20 with 7:31 remaining on Dixon’s 20-yard pass to Craig Tortorici.

Ryan Gustafson scored the Cougars first two touchdowns on a 21-yard reception from Dixon and a one-yard run.

Dana Hills receiver Larry Page caught two of his five passes for touchdowns and Peraza scored the other Dolphins touchdown on a 20-yard run.