Huntington Beach football uses high-powered attack to beat Western in CIF opener
Troy Foster was in a boot for most of the week leading up to Huntington Beach High’s CIF football playoff opener against Western.
The standout junior receiver has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in his foot, and he missed last week’s regular season finale against El Dorado.
Yet there Foster was Friday night in the Oilers’ 56-39 victory in a Division 5 first-round game, catching four passes for 88 yards and a touchdown.
“I told him, ‘Be honest with me,’” Huntington Beach coach Brett Brown said. “If you can’t go, you can’t go. And he’s like, ‘I’m going to play.’ He’s a warrior, man. He’s our dude.”
The top-seeded Oilers (7-4) still showed that they don’t need to lean too heavily on Foster. Sophomore quarterback Brady Edmunds threw touchdown passes to four different receivers, with Steel Kurtz, Gabe Bryant and Niko Lopez joining in the fun as well.
Huntington Beach also established its running game, particularly in the second half. Micah Riola had more than 100 yards rushing, including a 37-yard third-quarter scamper for a touchdown. Edmunds also scored on a five-yard keeper, and Charlie Stubin also scored on a late rushing score for the winners.
“They had five in the box a lot, so we knew the run was going to be there,” Brown said. “Our running backs have really played well all year, but we haven’t the ball a ton other than the last couple of weeks. That was something that we really harped on, that we have to be able to run the ball to make a run in the playoffs. That was huge for us, to be able to do that, especially in the second half.”
Huntington Beach hits the road next week to play Fontana Summit in a Division 5 second-round game. Summit (10-1), the Sunkist League champion, routed Torrance 37-7 in another first-round game Friday night.
The Oilers are hoping to build momentum like they did last year, when they made it all the way to the Division 6 semifinals before a last-second loss to eventual champion Simi Valley.
“We struggled in league last year, then the ball got rolling in playoffs and we didn’t look back,” Edmunds said. “To get that first playoff win tonight is big for us.”
Western (5-6) aired the ball out with sophomore quarterback Chance Thomas, who passed for 347 yards and two touchdowns. The Pioneers briefly took the lead late in the first half, when Thomas connected with JJ Amezcua, who had 11 of his 14 catches in the first half, on a 42-yard bomb.
Down 19-14, Huntington Beach outscored Western 28-8 over the next quarter-plus to reassert control. Included in the run was a key interception by Nicolas Navarette, who jumped a route on a fourth-down pass to give the Oilers great field position.
Trent Clark, one of three Oilers with sacks along with Gavin Seguin and Darby Warren, also returned an onside kick about 50 yards for a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.
“I caught the ball, I saw a gap and I just ran,” Clark said, smiling, after the game. “I ran for my life. I’ve never ran that fast before.”
Brown said his team will need to clean up its tackling. Western senior Malachi Alatorre broke several tackles on both of his long touchdowns, one on a run and one on a pass from Thomas.
On the other hand, Huntington Beach matched a season high with 56 points scored.
“We think we can score with or against anybody,” Brown said. “I think we’re headed in the right direction. We had a good week of practice this week, and we’ve got to have another one next week.”
CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs
First round
Huntington Beach 56, Western 39
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Western 6 - 13 - 8 - 12 — 39
Huntington Beach 7 - 14 - 21 - 14 — 56
FIRST QUARTER
W — Thomas 7 run (kick failed), 6:10.
HB — Kurtz 16 pass from Edmunds (Zavala kick), 3:29.
SECOND QUARTER
HB — Foster 32 pass from Edmonds (Zavala kick), 11:51.
W — Alatorre 3 run (Cruz kick), 7:23.
W — Amezcua 42 pass from Thomas (kick failed), 3:00.
HB — Bryant 24 pass from Edmunds (Zavala kick), 0:26.
THIRD QUARTER
HB — Riola 37 run (Zavala kick), 11:04.
W — Alatorre 77 run (Alatorre run), 10:07.
HB — Lopez 8 pass from Edmunds (Zavala kick), 4:28.
HB — Edmunds 5 run (Zavala kick), 0:50.
FOURTH QUARTER
W — Alatorre 53 pass from Thomas (kick blocked), 6:47.
HB — Clark 50 onside kick return (Zavala kick), 6:40.
W — Young 39 pass from Thomas (run failed), 5:34.
HB —Stubin 11 run (Zavala kick), 0:55.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
W — Alatorre, 8-103, 2 TDs.
HB — Riola, 16-107, 1 TD.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
W — Thomas, 28-41-1, 347, 3 TDs.
HB — Edmunds, 20-25-0, 239, 4 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
W — Amezcua, 14-171, 1 TD.
HB — Foster, 4-88, 1 TD; Kurtz, 7-66, 1 TD.
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