LA HABRA – La Habra’s reign on top of the Freeway League has been tested greatly this year, but Thursday night, the Highlanders again proved why they’ve been on top for so long.
With a one-touchdown lead, the Highlanders were unable to recover the onside kick with less than two minutes remaining, but found one final defensive stop to hold off host Troy, 42-35, in a Freeway League game at Fullerton High.
The victory clinches an eighth consecutive league title for the Highlanders (6-3, 4-0).
“Everybody is playing their best game against us,” La Habra coach Frank Mazzotta said. “We show up, that’s the best game, and we take the best shot all the time.
“You have to hand it to the kids. They know what’s at stake and they’re the ones that have to stay focused.”
La Habra took a 42-28 lead early in the fourth quarter on Cortlin Taylor’s 5-yard run. Troy (6-3, 2-2) answered with a touchdown from Dray Shaw with 2:20 left.
The Warriors recovered the onside kick at the Highlanders’ 37, but couldn’t get any closer to the potential tying touchdown. The Highlanders would take over on downs and run out the clock.
“We gave them a scare until the end,” Troy coach Kevin Hastin said. “I’m proud of the fact that we didn’t give up. We were down, 28-7, (in the second quarter) and we battled back … Great character out of the team.
“We have to rebound, beat Sunny Hills and make a run in the playoffs.”
The Warriors jumped on the board first when Shaw went 71 yards on the first play of the game. Shaw would get into the end zone four times. On the outside, wide receiver Ryan Scotti was virtually unstoppable.
“He catches everything,” Mazzotta said.
Scotti made enough plays to make a highlight reel. He finished with 15 receptions for 150 yards.
“We’ve been battle-tested all year,” Hastin said.”Valencia came down to the wire, Fullerton, Sonora, Cypress have all come down to the wire. We finish strong, we were just a play short (tonight).”
La Habra’s consecutive winning streak in the Freeway League is up to 40 games. The Highlanders haven’t lost a league game since 2006.
“We like to make it interesting,” Mazzotta joked. “We think we think we’re on the verge of being good and all of sudden we look like what we don’t know what we’re doing again. We have to change that if we’re going to be a good team.”
The top three teams from the Freeway League are guaranteed berths into the CIF-SS Southwest Division playoffs.
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
