Laguna Beach up for the fight in Foxtrot League opener
IRVINE — Realignment of leagues across the Orange County high school football landscape meant, for the most part, less familiar foes.
Laguna Beach, however, had ample history with Northwood, its first opponent in the new Foxtrot League.
In a game unlike any of the others from the previous three seasons, Laguna Beach clamped down to beat Northwood 7-6 in a bruising battle at Irvine High.
The Breakers bested the Timberwolves for the fourth time in as many seasons, but had averaged 34.7 points per game in the prior three meetings.
Laguna Beach (6-0) worked the ball into the red zone on the opening drive, but Jackson Kollock was chased out of the pocket on multiple occasions. The senior quarterback shed two tacklers for a short completion, threw across his body on another attempt, and eventually was intercepted by Joseph Harper.
Northwood (5-1) again had the answer defensively on the Breakers’ next possession. Kollock threw deep over the middle, but Cole Hidalgo tracked it like a center fielder for another interception.
Possessions came at a premium, especially with the Timberwolves methodically working the ball up the field. A 15-play drive that included their longest gain — a 31-yard run by Harper — ended without points when a 22-yard field goal was no good.
Three plays later, Kollock launched a throw up the right sideline. Luke Jolley made a contested catch and outran the defender the rest of the way for a 78-yard touchdown.
“We pretty much told Jackson we wanted to take a shot,” Laguna Beach coach John Shanahan said. “We need to stretch them vertically. Sometimes, we throw those things, we’re not necessarily trying to score a touchdown. We’re really just trying to spook the defense a little bit and get them to back off us a little bit, but Jolley made a great catch and didn’t go down and took it in the end zone.”
Northwood’s next drive began near midfield, and once again, the Timberwolves ran the clock effectively. Nearly six minutes came off the clock before the Timberwolves rushed to the line out of the huddle, with Gavin Lounsbury scoring on a quarterback sneak with 55 seconds left in the half. The extra-point kick was blocked.
Charlie Hunt intercepted a double-pass attempt by the Timberwolves on the first play of the second half, but the Breakers turned the ball over on downs, unable to take advantage of prime field position.
Northwood returned to the red zone midway through the fourth quarter, but another special teams miscue loomed large in the outcome. Setting up for a 35-yard field goal to take the lead, Lounsbury had to pull the ball after it arrived too low to get the hold up in time for a kick.
Hidalgo ran through the kick and into a wheel route. Lounsbury got a pass off, Hidalgo making the catch along the right sideline, but he was tackled from behind by Wyatt Bogdan and Henry Rounaghi at the 10-yard line, just 2 yards short of the first down.
Behind an offensive line of left tackle Leonardo Adjemian, left guard Ollie Lyles, center Fletcher Liao, right guard Alex Wang-Huhem and right tackle Gage Lee, the Breakers were able to hold onto the ball for the final seven minutes. Shanahan said the Breakers have lost three offensive linemen for the season — Charlie Kelly, Hudson Mills and Sam Boxberger.
“We have so many injuries up front,” Shanahan said. “We’re just not in rhythm. We’re really struggling. We’ll figure it out. Jackson didn’t play great tonight, but he did some things that were important late in the game, made some good throws, made some good decisions to get that long drive at the end.
“We’re playing really good defense. We’re doing a tremendous job on special teams, and we’ve just got to find a way to execute a little bit better on offense. We could be a pretty good football team.”
In a battle of unbeatens, Laguna Beach was the one to keep its streak alive. Kollock believes that the team showed a “toughness” that can lead it to further success.
“The toughness that we all played with definitely stood out to me,” Kollock said. “Between the defense and our [offensive] line, just really have to give it up to those guys. To put a seven-minute drive together at the end, it’s amazing. If you can do that, you’re going to win a lot of football games. If your defense can hold teams to six points, it’s hard to lose games when that happens.”
The Breakers were coming off three consecutive blowout victories, the last a 40-0 win over El Dorado, which engineered Laguna Beach’s first-round playoff exit last season.
“The defense on both teams really kept the scoring down, which just made it a more fun game, more competitive,” said Jolley after the Breakers outscored the opposition 132-0 over their last three games.
Harper had a game-high 94 rushing yards and added a 27-yard reception.
“I was worried about big plays, which was the one that happened,” Harper said. “The quarterback [Kollock], there’s many plays where he’ll roll out and just chuck it down the field. … I thought if we could hold them to 14 or seven [points], we could really give ourselves a shot, and we did. It’s just real disappointing. I really wanted to beat those guys.”
Foxtrot League
Laguna Beach 7, Northwood 6
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Laguna Beach 0 - 7 - 0 - 0 — 7
Northwood 0 - 6 - 0 - 0 — 6
FIRST QUARTER
None.
SECOND QUARTER
LB — Jolley 78 pass from Kollock (Jolley kick), 6:56.
N — Lounsbury 2 run (Hidalgo kick blocked), 0:55.
THIRD QUARTER
None.
FOURTH QUARTER
None.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
LB — Chesley, 7-39.
N — Harper, 17-94.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
LB — Kollock, 20-31-2, 219, 1 TD.
N — Lounsbury, 10-19-0, 81.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
LB — Jolley, 3-85, 1 TD; Stringham, 5-55.
N — Harper, 1-27; Hidalgo, 3-22.
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