Oilers still have shot at playoffs

It’s now a two-game season for the Huntington Beach High football team.

By overcoming a sloppy start to post a 44-17 victory Oct. 30 over Northwood, the Oilers picked up a crucial Sea View League victory — their first in three starts — to set themselves up for a possible CIF playoff berth. But before Huntington can look at the big picture, it will have to focus first on the game at hand this week.

Huntington can square its Sea View League record at 2-2 and improve to 4-5 overall Friday by beating El Toro on the road. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Laguna Hills High.

“After losing three straight games, it’s great to get a win,� Huntington Coach Eric Lo said. “It’s good for our morale and now puts us in position to get a playoff berth. Our next two games will be big for us.�

The Oilers gained second-half momentum against Northwood to turn a 10-3 halftime deficit into a 27-point victory. A 27-point third quarter outburst allowed Huntington to establish control. Senior running back Logan Emery kick-started the comeback with a 74-yard scoring run. Later in the quarter, he took in a 40-yard touchdown pass from Sean Guite, who threw four touchdown passes over a span of the middle of the third quarter to the beginning of the fourth quarter as the Oilers built a 30-10 lead.

Guite, who threw for 278 yards, first tossed a 19-yard scoring pass to Kaller Roemer. After teaming up with Emery, he threw a one-yard TD pass to Roemer and then a 72-yard pass to Dylan Simmons in the fourth quarter.

Simmons finished the scoring for Huntington with a 70-yard scoring run later in the final quarter that upped the advantage to 44-10.

The second half performance was a far cry from a first half that saw the Oilers miss assignments and turn the ball over three times, as they went into the half facing a seven-point deficit against a Northwood team that now is 0-3 in league and 2-6 overall.

El Toro began the season 0-6 but has gone up against teams the likes of Dana Hills, San Clemente and Laguna Hills. The Chargers, however, are 2-1 in league after last week’s 45-7 win over a 1-7 Woodbridge team. Andrew Wellman and Shawn Priester both scored twice in the win.

Both Huntington, which ends its regular season Nov. 14 against Woodbridge, and El Toro had season-high point totals in last week’s victories.

The week before Huntington beat Northwood, El Toro held on for a 28-25 win over the Timberwolves.

In other games:

 

Tonight

Bolsa Grande (3-4-1, 0-2-1) vs. Los Amigos (4-4, 3-0) at Garden Grove High, 7 p.m.: Los Amigos is on a three-game roll and can clinch a share of the Garden Grove League title with a win over Bolsa Grande.

The Lobos picked up their most important win of the season Friday when they handed Garden Grove, then ranked No. 2 in the Southern Division poll, its first loss of the season, 17-14. Ricky Vu rushed for 145 yards and two touchdowns and Jose Gonzalez kicked a 31-yard field goal. Defensively, Jose Perez had two huge fourth quarter interceptions, the last of which he nabbed in the end zone with five seconds left, to ice the three-point upset.

Bolsa Grande hasn’t won a league contest and last week played Rancho Alamitos to a scoreless tie.

  Friday

Marina (2-6, 0-3) at Newport Harbor (5-3, 1-2), 7 p.m.: Newport Harbor helped throw the Sunset League race into a wide open affair last week by blasting Esperanza, 35-6, to hand the Aztecs their first league loss. The Sailors scored the final 35 points of the game to beat an Esperanza team that had to go overtime to beat Marina, 17-14, a month ago. Andrew McDonald threw for 190 yards and had touchdown passes to JB Green and Cecil Whiteside. Green not only had seven receptions total 97 yards, but he also scored on a fumble return at cornerback.

Marina found the going tough last week in a 55-14 loss to Edison. Jarrid Balis took in a 13-yard touchdown pass from Zach Couey and Nick Dallas ran 31 yards for another score for the Vikings, who have lost four straight.

Saddleback (0-8, 0-3) at Ocean View (3-5, 0-3), 7 p.m.: Ocean View will attempt to stop a three-game slide when it takes on a winless Saddleback squad in Golden West League play.

The Seahawks have struggled offensively in three league contests and are coming off a 10-6 home loss to Orange in a game where an interception in the end zone thwarted a last-second comeback attempt by Ocean View. Fernando Valdez kicked two field goals for the Seahawks.

Saddleback has struggled all season long. The Roadrunners have been shut out on offense three times and have scored seven points or fewer in four other games. Their defense also has been battered and is yielding an average of 41 points per game.

Sage Hill (2-6, 1-0) at Brethren Christian (2-6, 0-1), 7 p.m.: Brethren Christian will celebrate its homecoming game, “A New Frontier — a Warrior Destiny,� on its own home field for the first time in 20 years when it hosts Sage Hill.

Sage Hill halted a five-game losing skid last week by opening up Academy League play with a 34-19 win over Capistrano Valley Christian. Jelani Reynolds and Dusty Orrantia both scored two touchdowns to lead the Lightning, which scored a total of six points in its three previous games.

Brethren Christian wasn’t as fortunate on the opening night of league play and found out why St. Margaret’s is the top-ranked team in the East Valley Division after the Tartans pinned a 70-6 defeat on the Warriors. Brethren Christian’s lone score came on a 20-yard TD pass from Brad Hess to Jeremiah Bell in the third quarter. The loss ended a two-game win streak by the Warriors.

Homecoming game festivities begin at 5 p.m. for students and alumni from the past 61 years.

MIKE SCIACCA covers sports. He can be reached at (714) 966-4611 or by e-mail at [email protected].