Cunningham Helps Oilers to Share of Title

HUNTINGTON BEACH —  Huntington Beach High School locked up a share of the Sunset League championship for the first time since 1983 with a 28-11 victory over visiting Fountain Valley Thursday night at Sheue Field.

Doug Cunningham, making his first start at quarterback since he was a freshman on the sophomore team in 1986, scored all of Huntington Beach’s four touchdowns on the ground. Huntington Beach Coach George Pascoe switched Cunningham from tailback to quarterback to give his team a “different angle.”

Cunningham gave the Oilers (8-2) more than that. He scored the first of his touchdowns on a 48-yard sprint up the middle after he fielded a low short-hop snap from the shotgun formation.

Cunningham completed five of nine passes for 87 yards. In goal-line situations, Cunningham was shifted to tailback and quarterback Jeff Gibson handed off to him for touchdown runs of three, one, and three yards.