PLACENTIA – Mason Winter rushed for 135 yards on 25 carries and scored two touchdowns and Yorba Linda’s defense held Valencia scoreless for the final 30 minutes in a 14-13 nonleague victory Friday night on the Tigers’ field.
Winter’s 13-yard scoring run with 10:44 remaining in the second quarter and Cole Magliano’s conversion kick put the Mustangs on top, 7-6.
Valencia responded with a 71-yard, 12-play march on its next possession to regain the lead, 13-7, on Zachary Charles’ 1-yard quarterback sneak and Marvin Burgos’ PAT with 6:09 left in the first half.
Yorba Linda took the ensuing kickoff and went 72 yard on 11 plays, with the 5-foot-8, 195-pound Winter thundering into the end zone from the 3. Magliano’s kick for a 14-13 lead with 1:46 left in the first half was the game’s decisive point.
Valneica’s Jahquon Speed rushed for 109 yards on 21 carries and had a 9-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. But Speed had only 13 yards on seven carries in the second half.
It was the opening game of the season for Yorba Linda (1-0) and the second for Valencia (0-2).
“I thought our kids settled down and got better as the game went on,” Yorba Linda coach Jeff Bailey said. “Valencia is a good football team with some physical kids and they’ll get better. It didn’t help them that Speed banged up his ankle a bit in the second half.
“Winter is a tough kid running inside and we blocked pretty well.”
Luke Wilson, a 5-foot-10, 140-pound junior, made his first start at quarterback for the Mustangs and completed 8 of 12 passes for 88 yards. He also didn’t have a turnover.
“Luke is a solid player,” Bailey said.
Valencia played without quarterback Eric Terrones, the opening-game starter who was knocked out of last week’s 34-0 loss to Capo Valley on a second-quarter sack that injured his shoulder. The senior is out indefinitely.
Charles replaced Terrones against Capo Valley and was the starter against Yorba Linda. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound junior showed promise, completing 8 of 18 for 70 yards and running for 39 yards on eight carries.
Valencia’s snap on its first PAT hit the ground in front of holder Joshua Carrera, who grabbed it and was tackled.
“Execution,” Bailey said. ‘I have bad dreams about missing PATs.”
