Huntington Beach football rushes past Mayfair to open season
The Huntington Beach High football team has 35 seniors on its roster this year, the most in coach Brett Brown’s eight-year tenure.
The experienced group appeared more than ready for Friday night’s tilt against visiting Lakewood Mayfair.
“We talked to them in our pregame meal speech and had them all stand up,” Brown said. “I told them, it’s their time. They put in four years of work, and now it’s time for that to pay off.”
So far, so good.
The Oilers rode a big game from senior running back Tyler Young and beat Mayfair 34-21 at Cap Sheue Field to kick off the 2023 season.
The game was chippy at times; Huntington Beach also beat Mayfair by a touchdown to open last year’s campaign.
“Our kids have got a lot of heart,” Brown said. “For us to be tied at halftime, we’ve got to fix some things, but I thought our guys played really hard and with a lot of energy and effort. It was fun to watch.”
Young, a junior varsity call-up midway through last season, had his best varsity game so far. He had 29 carries for 175 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
He broke several tackles on his last carry of the game, with the Oilers just trying to run the clock out. After the game he said with a smile that senior tackle and team captain Justin Tauanuu grabbed him and threw him forward on the play, which helped.
The offensive line of Tauanuu, Nathan Chow, Dean Ferguson, Sean Marella and Tristan Vibbard helped open up holes for Huntington Beach all night long.
“They were dominant,” Brown said. “Those are the guys we’re leaning on right now.”
The Oilers could also be proud of their conditioning, as several Mayfair players appeared to cramp up in the second half but Huntington Beach stood strong.
“Our seniors definitely lead the team with our energy and our commitment,” Young said. “We’re showing the younger class an example of people that aren’t quitters … We train for this. We definitely won the mental battle, I think, because they were definitely exhausted out there.”
Huntington Beach took the lead for good with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns. Freshman quarterback Brady Edmunds found senior receiver Hunter Gray on a 52-yard strike, with Gray making a strong cut in the open field to rid himself of a defender.
A low snap on a Mayfair punt was recovered by the Oilers’ Nathan Dumesnil, giving the hosts the ball back at the Mayfair 10-yard line. Two plays later, Young scored his second rushing touchdown of the night.
The timing was just a bit off in the passing game in the first half, but Edmunds still finished with three touchdowns, also throwing an eight-yard score to senior Musashi Ray and a 24-yard touchdown to wide-open sophomore Troy Foster.
The pass to Foster, which came on fourth-and-four, provided Huntington Beach with the final points of the game early in the fourth quarter.
Mayfair quarterback Jeremiah Calvin threw for 249 yards and a pair of scores, but Huntington Beach also sacked him six times; two by senior Zack Mills.
Senior lineman Chase Paz also recovered a fumble for the winners, after senior safety Zack James knocked the ball free from the running back.
“I feel like we all came together and fit well in our system,” Paz said. “People doing certain things makes other people get opportunities. That’s why I feel like our whole defense was getting to him, because we weren’t playing selfish.”
Huntington Beach has a short week to prepare for its second game of the season, at Trabuco Hills on Thursday night. That’s the season opener for the Mustangs, who didn’t play a game this week.
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Nonleague
Huntington Beach 34, Mayfair 21
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Mayfair 0 - 14 - 7 - 0 — 21
Hunt. Beach 6 - 8 - 14 - 6 — 34
FIRST QUARTER
HB — Young 8 run (kick failed), 5:48.
SECOND QUARTER
M — Heredia 6 pass from Calvin (Mercado kick), 11:54.
M — Gilbreath 69 pass from Calvin (Mercado kick), 8:01.
HB — Ray 8 pass from Edmunds (Brown run), 4:02.
THIRD QUARTER
HB — Gray 52 pass from Edmunds (kick failed), 7:42.
HB — Young 5 run (Foster pass from Edmunds), 5:30.
M — Heredia 3 run (Mercado kick), 3:40.
FOURTH QUARTER
HB — Foster 24 pass from Edmunds (kick failed), 10:07.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
M — Heredia, 10-19.
HB — Young, 29-175, 2 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
M — Calvin, 16-27-0, 249, 2 TDs.
HB — Edmunds, 8-19-0, 113, 3 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
M — Gilbreath, 5-113, 1 TD; Jonas, 4-98.
HB — Gray, 1-52, 1 TD; Foster, 3-36, 1 TD.
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