PLACENTIA – Zack Sowder showed off his versatility in Yorba Linda’s 31-6 nonleague victory over El Dorado on Friday night at Valencia High.
Sowder got the Mustangs (2-2) on the board with a 37-yard field goal midway through the first quarter and all but put the game away when he took a Kamren Freck pass 94 yards for a score to give Yorba Linda a 17-0 lead at the half.
Sowder had four catches for 143 yards and the touchdown.
El Dorado (0-4) never challenged the Mustangs and had three times more penalties than points.
“It’s tough to manage a game with all those penalties,” Yorba Linda coach Jeff Bailey said. “Zack is doing a great job and does a lot of things for us.”
Matt Laoretti had a pair of 3-yard TD runs in the third quarter and Jaydyn Webb dashed in from 2 yards out for Yorba Linda.
The Mustangs were also dominant on defense, getting interceptions from Chad Hoffman and Bobby Brattain, a fumble recovery from Luke Dawson and sacks from Steven Raia and Joe Thompson.
“Our defense played well tonight and did a great job of stopping their run game,” Bailey said.
Robert Arroyo scored El Dorado’s only points of the night on a 16-yard run long after the Mustangs starters had left the game.
Austin Shear and Jack Strouse split time at quarterback for the Golden Hawks, but the Mustangs never allowed either to get comfortable.
Yorba Linda will host El Modena next Thursday and El Dorado travels to Villa Park on Friday.
