BUENA PARK – Sunny Hills players and fans alike were anticipating an end to the Lancers’ 25-game Freeway League losing streak, but that result will have to wait one more week.
Sunny Hills missed a 29-yard field goal attempt with 20 seconds left, enabling Troy to escape with a 7-6 league victory Friday night at Buena Park High.
The Warriors (3-3, 1-0) got 206 yards rushing from Draytwone Shaw, who scored the Warriorrs’ lone touchdown on a 1-yard run with 3:03 remaining in the first quarter. The rest of the way, Troy coach Kevin Hastin watched Sunny Hills (4-2, 0-1) attempt to win its first league game since November 2009.
“I felt that our kids played hard, but we let Sunny Hills stay in the game with our mistakes,” Hastin said.
The Warriors looked to command the game at the outset, driving 83 yards in 14 plays and running six minutes off the clock. Shaw’s touchdown and the extra point got Troy out to a 7-0 advantage.
The Lancers did put together impressive drives, featuring a pair of fourth-down conversions and converting 4 of 6 third-down conversions. Sunny Hills, though, got no closer than the Warriors’ 37 before halftime.
The first break of the contest for the Lancers came on the second-half kickoff, which bounced off the chest of a Troy player and into the waiting hands of Daryl Imperial at the Warriors’ 46.
After eight consecutive rushing plays, Lancers quarterback Malcolm Dixon found room to roam and scored on a 9-yard run. Troy’s Mikale Hill blocked the Lancers’ extra-point try, allowing the Warriors to keep the lead.
Troy lost a golden oppoetunity to reach the end zone again when Shaw was tackled by Nick Sheffer for a loss inside the 5-yard line late in the third quarter.
The Lancers would have their last shot at victory after gaining possession on their own 20. The Warriors forced Shaw out of bounds at the Troy 12-yard line before the winning field goal attempt fell short.
David Cabral led the Lancers offense with 79 yards on 19 carries.
