Laguna Routs Saddleback

 

In the third biggest blow-out in the 77 years of Laguna football, the Breakers (8-2, 3-2) closed out their regular season with a lopsided 56-3 victory over the Saddleback Roadrunners (0-10, 0-5) last Friday night at Segerstrom Field.

Breakers controlled the tempo early holding Saddleback to a minus one yard on their first possession.  The possession was concluded with Dylan Hunter blocking the ensuing punt, which was recovered by Norton Penney on the Roadrunner 13-yard line. In two carries, Drake Martinez added to his school record for a single season with the  first of three touchdowns for the evening.

 

Saddleback gained a single yard in their second try but the Breakers fumbled the ball on Laguna’s second possession. This was followed by Saddleback’s only success of the evening with a 12-play drive that concluded with a field goal just as the second quarter began. The points were only the Roadrunner’s fourth scoring drive of the season.

 

Laguna got into gear after that. The next two scores came on single play drives with the third score of the quarter coming on a two-play drive.

 

Second half was a continuation of the third quarter as Laguna scored on four straight possessions even after the starters had retired for the evening. After Nathan Lancaster’s touchdown just as the fourth quarter began, the officials instituted a running clock. Saddleback ran just eight plays before turning the ball over on downs and Laguna ran two plays to conclude the game.

 

Breakers finished the regular season scoring 474 points. Only two other teams in Laguna history had scored more than 300 points: 313 points in the nine-game 1956 season and 343 points in the 11-game 2009 season. 2011 Breakers are only the 10^th Laguna team to win at-least eight games.

 

The Southern Division playoffs for the Southern Section begin this week. Laguna will face Orange League champion Anaheim at 7 p.m. at the Colonist’s home field, Glover Stadium. Breakers and the Colonist have met only once way back in 1948 when Anaheim tagged a 25-0 loss on Laguna in a contest played at Glover. Overall, Laguna is 3-2 at that stadium.

 

Laguna is hoping to win just its third playoff game since 1968 when they take the field on Friday. The last win, a 39-14 victory over Santa Ana in 2008 is still the only Orange Coast League post-season win since the conference was formed in 2006. 2011 should  be different as Estancia, Costa Mesa, and the Breakers are clearly the strongest OCL teams of the past six seasons. The Southern Division is considered No. 9 of 13 CIF divisions. The five participating leagues/teams are Pacific Coast (Beckman, CdM, Woodbridge), Garden Grove (Rancho Alamitos, Los Amigos, Garden Grove), Golden West (Segerstrom, Ocean View, Westminster), Orange (Anaheim, SA Valley, Magnolia), and the Orange Coast (Estancia, Costa Mesa, Laguna, and Godinez).  If the Breakers win, they could be hosting a playoff game on Friday, Nov. 24, 7 p.m. at Guyer Field against either Segerstrom or Garden Grove.

 

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Laguna Beach	7	21	21	7	56
Saddleback	0	3	0	0	3

 

L – Martinez 2 run (McInerny kick) 9:37 1^st Q

S – 27 FG 11:14 2^nd Q

L – Martinez 65 run (McInerny kick) 10:54 2^nd Q

L – Clemons 80 run (McInerny kick) 7:08 2^nd Q

L – Penney 35 run (McInerny kick) 5:01 2^nd Q

L – Martinez 35 run (McInerny kick 10:55 3^rd Q

L – Clawson 18 pass from Stewart (Mcinerny kick) 8:00 3^rd Q

L – Jaffe 21 run (McInerny kick) 3:12 3^rd Q

L – Lancaster 11 run (McInerny kick) 11:35 4^th Q

 

LB                   S

1st Downs                   15                   13

Rush/Yds                25-393                41-83

Pass Yds                  18                   80

C-A-I                1-2-0                6-14-2

Plays/TYG                27-411                55-163

Fumbles/Lost                  4-1                  4-1

Return Yds                  29                   0

Punts/Ave                  0-0                5-23.4

Penalties/Yds                  6-45                  5-45

 

Rushing:                  Martinez 5-128, Lancaster 7-55, Clemons 3-112, Penney 4-72, Jaffe 1-21, Wollam 3-2

Receiving: Clawson 1-18 Passing: Stewart 2-1-0 18 yds 1TD 290.6 rating

Interception Returns: Clemons 1-24 Punt Returns: Reigel 1-5

KO Returns: McInerny 1-20 KO’s: McInerny 9 kicks 7 Touchbacks

 

See season statistics on Maxpreps Laguna Beach HS site.