ORANGE – Villa Park carried extra motivation into its game Thursday against Canyon, but Spartans coach Dusan Ancich wasn’t sure it would translate into well-executed play.
Brennan Corbin and his Villa Park teammates supplied the answer early and often.
Corbin returned the opening kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown and also returned an interception 34 yards for another score late in the second quarter to help the Spartans defeat the rival Comanches, 26-13, at El Modena.
Running back Ramon Chaves added a pair of touchdowns as the Spartans (6-0) cooled off Canyon (3-3), ranked No. 1 in the Southern Division.
Villa Park, ranked fourth in the Southwest Division, drew motivation from comments by Canyon coach Mike Ogas that earlier opponents San Juan Hills and Edison were better than Villa Park.
“We took those comments to heart,” said Corbin, a senior who has been offered by Colorado State. “And they picked us for homecoming, too, which is kind of disrespectful, but we came out and answered it.
“When the pressure is on us, we do great – just like El Modena.”
Ogas said his comments and the homecoming scheduling were not intended to offend Villa Park.
The Spartans finished the first half strong to lead, 19-7, and scored the first points of the second half on Chaves’ 2-yard run late in the fourth for a 26-7 advantage.
Villa Park’s defense forced Canyon to turn the ball over on downs at the Comanches’ 46 and Villa Park 19 in the third quarter.
“Any time you beat a rival it’s special,” Ancich said. “I’m just happy for our kids to get the win because they all know the other kids.”
Chaves rushed for 123 yards, including touchdowns of 2 and 5 yards, on 20 carries to lead a strong ground attack. John Stamos added 69 yards and Austin Zurbuchen had 56 as Villa Park finished with 240 yards rushing.
“They got us on the ground pretty good,” Ogas said. “We just didn’t play real well.”
Villa Park scored twice in the final 38 seconds of the first half to lead, 19-7, at halftime.
Corbin supplied the final touch by returning an interception 34 yards for a touchdown with 23 seconds left in the second quarter for a 19-7 lead. The Spartans’ 2-point conversion failed.
The cornerback’s second interception of the season came 15 seconds after Chaves capped a 69-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run with 38 seconds left in the opening half.
Wide receiver Josh Moorehead helped set up the score with a diving, 38-yard reception to the Canyon 10 with 55 seconds left. Quarterback Nick Sipe’s deep pass connected with Moorehead between two defenders.
Canyon tied the score, 7-7, on the first play of the second quarter on Michael Freeman’s 21-yard touchdown reception on a screen pass from Jason Harman.
Harman threw a late touchdown to Noah White in the fourth. He passed for 107 yards and led the Comanches in rushing with 68 yards.
Christian Araiza had two sacks to help lead Canyon’s defense.
Shane Darsow and Jack Lloyd recorded sacks for Villa Park with Josh Torres broke up two passes.
Ancich and Corbin both expressed concern with penalties. The Spartans were flagged 14 times for 132 yards.
“We got a lot more stuff to work on – way too many penalties,” Corbin said. “We need to work on our discipline. Our skill guys, no one can match up with us.”
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com