DUARTE – How good is Whittier Christian quarterback Quinn Commans?
Very good, but so are the Heralds, who showed it against Duarte on Friday.
Commans, who equaled a CIF Southern Section single-season record with nine touchdown passes last week, accounted for 398 yards and four scores to lead Whittier Christian to a 55-20 victory over the host Falcons in a nonleague game.
Justin Osborn accounted for 374 yards and three touchdowns for the Heralds (4-1).
Devon Hemsley had 170 yards and a touchdown, and Justin Hillyer had a 99-yard touchdown run for Duarte (3-1).
Whittier Christian had control of the game by halftime after blitzing the Falcons for 334 yards and scoring on six of its seven possessions.
“We knew coming in they were going to be excited,” Whittier Christian coach Sergio Gradilla said. “We had to jump on them early, and that’s what we did. We came out and scored quickly. Again, that’s what we needed to do.”
Osborn gave the Heralds a 14-0 by the middle of the first quarter. He had a 19-yard run for a 7-0 advantage at 9:26 before making it a two-touchdown lead with a 3-yard run at 6:53. He set the it up with a 63-yard run.
Commans pushed it to 27-0 by the middle of the second quarter. He tossed 48 yards to Josh Hernandez to set up a Hernandez’ 3-yard run before passing 24 yards to Cade McGee at 5:25.
Whittier Christian went up 42-7 at halftime by closing the second quarter with a Commans’ 8-yard pass to Jacob Albertini at 1:43 before Osborn tossed 67 yards to McGee on an option pass with three seconds left in the half.
Duarte’s first half was one of frustration. The Falcons have five drives inside Whittier Christian’s 40, but only came away with one score — a 30-yard run by Hemsley that made it 27-7 with 4:45 left in the half.
Commans had touchdown runs of 9 and 8 yards in the second half to give Whittier Christian a 55-20 lead late in the fourth quarter.
