DOWNEY – Sunny Hills junior Malcolm Dixon started his first game at quarterback for a program that had lost seven consecutive games to end the 2013 season.
Dixon, though, turned that around in one night with five rushing touchdowns, as well as picking off two passes on defense, to lead Sunny Hills to a 42-28 victory over Pioneer on Friday night at Warren High.
Dixon scored on runs of 20, 24, 1, 41 and 2 yards as the Lancers ran for over 440 yards.
Pioneer took a 14-7 lead early after Jakob Williams scored on a 1-yard run. On the next possession, Manuel Santos picked off Dixon and brought it back 50 yards with 2:35 left in the first quarter.
But the Lancers’ ground game, including three 100-yard rushers, was too much for the Titans.
David Cabral’s 27-yard scoring run accounted for the other Sunny Hills touchdown.
The Lancers didn’t attempt to kick an extra point, and were able to score on 2-point runs on three of their six attempts.
Joe Ha rushed for 100 yards on 18 carries and scored twice on the 2-point conversions.
Cabral had a team-best 117 yards on 13 rushes, and Dixon gained 100 yards on eight carries.
Dixon completed just one pass, but did more than enough damage with his legs.
Williams’ 2-yard score for Pioneer with 8:35 to go in the third quarter got the Titans even at 28-28. But Dixon’s 41-yard score on a fourth-and-7 seemed to deflate Pioneer.
Phillip Hernandez completed 11 of 18 passes for 137 yards, including a 30-yard scoring strike to Andy Garibay in the second quarter, for Pioneer.
Williams led the Titans with 51 yards on 11 carries.
