Laguna Beach football beats Dana Hills with homecoming comeback

Laguna Beach found its fire following a dismal first half in its showdown game Friday night with unbeaten Dana Hills, quickly took command, then watched things turn crazy.

For Jackson Kollock, no big deal.

The Minnesota-bound quarterback, limited all season by arm and leg injuries, put on a display after the break, completing 11 of 12 passes for 146 yards and three touchdowns — the final throw a fourth-down, sideline-screen to Jack Hooper for the decisive points with 20 seconds to play — to lift the Breakers to a 35-32 homecoming triumph that positioned them for a share of the first Foxtrot League title.

Laguna Beach defenders bring down Dana Hills receiver Nicholas Newsom during a Foxtrot League football game on Friday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Kollock, who was three of 10 in the first half and finished with 218 yards, connected with Brady Stringham and then Hooper for touchdowns on successive offensive plays for a 21-14 lead and immense momentum with two and a half minutes left in the third quarter.

It was a battle after that, with lead changes on every possession, four in all in the final quarter, with big defensive plays on two extra-point tries shifting the narrative and ultimately deciding the outcome.

“Here’s the best thing about Laguna kids,” Laguna Beach coach John Shanahan said. “They never get too high, they never get too low, they’re always cool, they handle pressure so well, and that’s why I love to go to battle with them.”

Laguna’s Jack Hooper, left, runs up to celebrate a kickoff return for a touchdown by Charlie Hunt, right, against Dana Hills.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

A victory next week at home against Orange would give Laguna Beach (8-1, 3-1 in the Foxtrot League) its fourth league title in five years — the first three in the Pac 4 League — and Dana Hills (8-1, 3-1) can secure a share at home against Northwood.

Kollock, an All-CIF Southern Section selection last year, hasn’t been physically capable of matching his first two years at Laguna Beach, when he threw for 5,374 yards and 73 touchdowns and won the school’s first section championship in 76 years, but he was unstoppable in the season’s most vital moments.

He found Stringham in the end zone from the 22 on third-and-16 to pull the Breakers even at 14 — Dana Hills had scored on two long first-half drives sandwiched around Charlie Hunt’s 76-yard kickoff return — then hit Hooper with a 46-yard bomb for the lead after the defense’s lone three-and-out.

Laguna defenders Henry Rounaghi and Redmond Chesley wrestle to bring down Dana Hills running back Radley Geiss.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

The visiting Dolphins rallied twice to go ahead, and Kollock answered both. He first hit Stringham for 18 yards into Dana Hills territory en route to his 3-yard touchdown run and a 27-26 advantage midway through the fourth quarter, then engineered a five-minute, 69-yard march for the winning points.

Kollock, on fourth-and-4, threw to the right sideline, and Hooper sprinted the 11 yards, breaking a tackle at the 5-yard line, to provide the lead. They connected again on the two-point conversion, the only among four to succeed down the stretch.

“We knew we had it,” Kollock said. “I trusted our guys, they trusted me, and [I just needed to] get the ball into our playmakers’ hands. Let them do the rest of the work.”

Laguna Beach quarterback Jackson Kollock (12) tries to shake a sack by Dana Hills’ Chuck Eckl during a Foxtrot League game.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Dana Hills had retaken the lead four minutes into the fourth quarter, finishing an 18-play, 88-yard drive with four Radley Geiss runs, the last for 1 yard, then using a long pass to set up a 1-yard Vanden Dugger toss to Chuck Eckl after a successful onside kick. Laguna Beach made big plays after each, a blocked extra point preserving a small lead, then Stringham’s two-point attempt interception keeping the deficit at five points.

The Breakers were ahead a minute and a half later and the Dolphins a minute after that — Dugger completing three long passes, the last a 29-yard throw to James Leicester — and then the final heroics. It wasn’t over until Dugger’s 43-yard Hail Mary was batted down near the goal line as the clock ran out.

“Jackson, he’s a warrior,” Shanahan said. “He’s got a hurt ankle, a hurt knee, a hurt shoulder, but he just kept fighting and fighting. I’m unbelievably proud of him.”

Laguna Beach’s Jack Hooper runs down the sideline for a touchdown after a deep pass from Jackson Kollock against Dana Hills.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Foxtrot League

Laguna Beach 35, Dana Hills 32

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Dana Hills 0 - 14 - 0 - 18 — 32

Laguna Beach 0 - 7 - 14 - 14 — 35

FIRST QUARTER

None.

SECOND QUARTER

DH — Newsom 18 pass from Dugger (Meyer Zu Drewer kick), 8:12.

LB — Hunt 76 kickoff return (Stringham kick), 7:58.

DH — Walz 11 run (Meyer Zu Drewer kick), 3:40.

THIRD QUARTER

LB — Stringham 22 pass from Kollock (Stringham kick), 4:50.

LB — Hooper 46 pass from Kollock (Stringham kick), 2:27.

FOURTH QUARTER

DH — Geiss 1 run (kick failed), 9:08.

DH — Eckl 1 pass from Dugger (pass failed), 7:58.

LB — Kollock 3 run (pass failed), 6:30.

DH — Leicester 29 pass from Dugger (pass failed), 5:26.

LB — Hooper 11 pass from Kollock (Hooper pass from Kollock), 0:20.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

DH — Geiss, 23-73, 1 TD.

LB — R. Chesley, 6-25.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

DH — Dugger, 22-32-1, 251, 3 TDs.

LB — Kollock, 14-22-0, 218, 3 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

DH — Leicester, 5-122, 1 TD.

LB — Stringham, 6-69, 1 TD.