Huntington Beach football delivers shutout at Western
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ANAHEIM — The Huntington Beach High School football team did not have much time to hang their heads after letting a second-half lead slip away in its opener against Aliso Niguel.
Going into a short week, the Oilers understood the lesson that had to be learned: keep going.
A relentless defense racked up six sacks and three turnovers for Huntington Beach in its 41-0 win at Western on Thursday night in a nonleague game.
Jeffrey Hagedorn compiled 3½ sacks and Jeremy Carpenter provided 2½ sacks, as the Oilers’ defense pressured Western quarterback Anthony Luna throughout the night.
Three interceptions were the spoils, including one that was returned 40 yards for a touchdown by Nathan Tauanuu.
“We couldn’t lose again,” Hagedorn said. “We were all fired up the whole week. We’ve been practicing as hard as we can, making sure we were doing everything.
“We weren’t going to lose again this week. Again, as you can see, we shut them out. We were not going to let up on them.”
Eli Anderson picked off a pass with the Pioneers looking to thread the needle in the middle of the field near the goal line. Jordan Castro also had an interception for Huntington Beach (1-1).
Western coach Dan Davidson said that the Oilers’ defensive line posed a problem.
“Once you knock that quarterback off his spot, right, then I don’t care if he’s a veteran or a rookie,” Davidson said. “Once you knock that guy off his spot, he’s going to struggle a little bit more, and they continually knocked him off.”
Huntington Beach took a 21-point lead less than six minutes into the game. The Oilers forced a turnover on downs on the first defensive series. Perez rushed for an eight-yard touchdown on Huntington Beach’s first drive. On the second, he threw deep to AJ Vandermade, who made the catch and then made a defender miss for a 75-yard score.
The Tauanuu interception return provided the Oilers with separation. A 17-yard touchdown reception by Caleb Kelly near the front right pylon in the second quarter gave Huntington Beach a 27-0 lead going into halftime.
A pair of touchdowns on quarterback keepers — by Perez and Andrew Verdone — accounted for the second-half scoring.
“We preached all week that this was a bounce-back game, and I told them last week that this loss last week could, in hindsight, be the best thing that happened to us because we’re going to stay hungry, and we’re going to continue to get better, and we’re not going to let down when we get up on a team,” Huntington Beach coach Brett Brown said. “We’ve been stressing all week, keep the foot on the gas.”
Brown was pleased to get a couple of players back in the lineup in left tackle Trent Leicht and slot receiver Hideo Ray. He said Leicht had a calming influence on the offensive line.
“Us becoming more of a unit, I think trust was a big thing tonight, trusting them to hold up a couple more seconds,” Perez concurred. “That just allowed me to get it into the hands of our playmakers.”
As a result, the Oilers had three passing plays of more than 30 yards, two to Vandermade and one to Tyler Moses. Vandermade finished with two catches for a game-high 130 yards.
Perez threw for 233 yards and accounted for four total touchdowns.
Drew Faulkner had six catches for 61 yards and added an interception defensively to lead Western (1-1). TJ Mitchell had eight receptions for 50 yards.
Nonleague
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Huntington Beach 21 – 6 – 7 – 7 – 41
Western 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
FIRST QUARTER
HB – Perez 8 run (run failed), 10:09.
HB – Vandermade 75 pass from Perez (Ray pass from Perez), 7:23.
HB – Tauanuu 40 interception return (Othman kick), 6:23.
SECOND QUARTER
HB – Kelly 17 pass from Perez (pass failed), 9:07.
THIRD QUARTER
HB – Perez 1 run (Othman kick), 4:05.
FOURTH QUARTER
HB – Verdone 4 run (Othman kick), 7:11.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
HB – Geracitano, 3-48.
W – Martinez, 9-31.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
HB – Perez, 10-19-1, 233, 2 TDs.
W – Luna, 17-34-3, 120.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
HB – Vandermade, 2-130, 1 TD.
W – Faulkner, 6-61.
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