ANAHEIM – Brandon Lopez looked like he had nowhere to go but backward. But Anaheim’s senior quarterback found just enough daylight to turn a big loss into a key gain, one that led to the decisive touchdown in a 14-7 win over Loara on Friday at Glover Stadium.
Kevin Montoya scored that tie-breaking touchdown on a 24-yard run with 2:09 left in the third quarter and the Anaheim defense came up with a key fourth-down stop with 4:17 left in the game.
Lopez wasn’t through, however. Facing third-and-7 from his own 24 with about 21/2 minutes left, he completed an 18-yard pass to tight end Juan Guzman, despite being unable to step into the throw because a Loara defender was wrapped around his ankles.
The Saxons (0-4) used their final timeout with 1:11 left and Anaheim facing a third-and-3, but Montoya picked up 5 yards on the ground and the Colonists (2-2) ran out the clock.
The Saxons appeared to be the stronger team early, but defensive back Bryan Castro had two interceptions in the first half to snuff out Loara drives, the first of which led to the only touchdown of the opening half for the Colonists.
Anaheim had an early 92-yard touchdown run by Montoya called back because of an illegal shift penalty.
