{"id":9296,"date":"2010-09-10T11:29:56","date_gmt":"2010-09-10T18:29:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=9296"},"modified":"2010-09-10T11:34:35","modified_gmt":"2010-09-10T18:34:35","slug":"highlanders-hold-on-for-close-win-over-la-habra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=9296","title":{"rendered":"Highlanders Hold On For Close Win Over La Habra"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

La Mirada quarterback Shane Blood<\/p><\/div>\n

By Tony Solorzano<\/p>\n

(La Habra) \u2013 Former Alhambra defensive standout Vai Peko has found his niche as his 92-yard\u00a0kickoff return\u00a0helped carry La Habra to a 23-17 victory over La Mirada\u00a0Thursday night\u00a0at\u00a0La Habra High.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Highlanders\u00a0(1-1) had struggled throughout the game to maintain their lead, and twice saw their lead vanish thanks to quarterback Shane Blood of the\u00a0Matadors\u00a0(0-2). In fact, Blood had driven the Matadors all the way to the Highlander 13 yard line with less than a minute left in the game when he failed to connect on three pass attempts and turned the ball over, ending what would have been one of the most exciting comebacks in the new season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll take the win,\u201d said\u00a0La Habra Head\u00a0Coach Frank Mazzotta after the game. \u201cWe made some mistakes that can be attributed to the inexperience at certain positions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Highlanders got on the board first as Drake Griffin scored on a 43-yard run with 4:52 left in the first quarter for the 7-0 lead. Junior kicker Sean Wale attempted a 44-yad\u00a0Field goal\u00a0early in the second but the kick was no good. Wale was able to extend the lead with 1:15 left in the half by hitting from 33 yards out, giving the Highlanders a 10-0 lead at the half. Wale\u2019s kick ended a frustrating series where the Highlanders had reached the Matador 11 yard-line but three false start penalties and rush that was stopped for a loss ended up giving the Highlanders a third and goal on the 33, which eventually ended with Wale’s kick.<\/p>\n

In the second half, La Mirada took advantage of a fumble by Mike Sparling on the opening kickoff and recovered the ball in Highlander territory. Nine plays later, Blood carried the ball into the end zone to get the Matadors on the board with 7:12 left in the third. On\u00a0La Habra\u2019s ensuing drive, Sparling, who also handles La Habra\u2019s punting duties, faked a punt on fourth-and-seven at the 35 but was stopped two yards short of the first down.\u00a0The Matadorsdrove deep into the\u00a0Highlander red zone\u00a0and came away with a game-tying 28-yard\u00a0field goal\u00a0from Jacob Otero with 1:21 left in the quarter.<\/p>\n

On the ensuing kickoff, Peko, who had been sharing special teams duties with Sparling, took the kickoff at his own 8-yard line and burst through the Matador defense en route to a 92-yard return and the lead once again, seemingly bringing the Matadors\u2019 momentum to a standstill. However, in the fourth quarter, Max Gama, who got most of the passing attempts from Blood, capped a 14-play 80-yard drive with a second game tying score, a three-yard run with 8:24 left in the game to tie things at 17-17.<\/p>\n

However, the Highlanders were not done, as La Habra back-up quarterback Matt Yackey, who started in place of the injured Cody Clements, drove the team 65 yards, culminating in Ahmad Avery\u2019s five-yard run. However, Wale\u2019s point after attempt was blocked, giving the Matadors a slim chance at a victory if they could find the end zone in the final 4:19 left in the game.<\/p>\n

The Matadors started on their own 30-yard line but found themselves with a third-and-five on their own 35 when Blood\u2019s incomplete pass to Anthony Diaz was flagged for pass interference, giving the Matadors a first down at mid-field. A few plays later, the Matadors got another gift, this time from Blood, who turned a fourth-and-nine into an 11 quarterback scramble to the La Habra 20 and a first down. He then called his own number again, this time getting to the 13 yard line. Unfortunately, his final three pass attempts, to Andy Gramajo in the back of the end zone, a sideline pass to Diaz who wasn\u2019t expecting it as he turned the corner route and a pass batted down by linebacker Aaron Porter, ended what could have been one of the most dramatic endings in the new season.<\/p>\n

Yackey threw only five completions for 56 yards, while Griffin ran the ball 12 times for 122 yards. The Highlanders had a total offense of 282 yards, 226 of which came on the ground. Blood fared better, going 18 for 28 for 162 yards, while Alex Munoz carried the ball 10 times for 56 yards. The Matadors had a total offense of 250 yards.<\/p>\n

La Habra faces off against Servite\u00a0next Friday\u00a0while La Mirada hosts Cal High at\u00a0La Mirada.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tony Solorzano (La Habra) \u2013 Former Alhambra defensive standout Vai Peko has found his niche as his 92-yard\u00a0kickoff return\u00a0helped carry La Habra to a 23-17 victory over La Mirada\u00a0Thursday night\u00a0at\u00a0La Habra High.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3024,3824,3719,419],"class_list":["post-9296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-school-sports","tag-la-mirada","tag-max-gama","tag-shane-blood","tag-vai-peko"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9296"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9303,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9296\/revisions\/9303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}