Dana Hills ends playoff struggles

LAGUNA NIGUEL - Dana Hills quarterback Josh Dean summed it up best.

"It's good to be a Dolphin right now," Dean said after leading Dana Hills to a 30-10 victory over Orange Lutheran in the first round of the CIF-SS Pac-5 Division playoffs on Friday night at Dana Hills High.

It was the Dolphins' first playoff victory since 1992. They also improved to 9-2, tying the school's record for most victories in a season.

"Our school doesn't make the playoffs a lot," Dana Hills' multi-talented Chris Kearney said. "We're having a great season. We wanted to come out and win that playoff game and go as far as we can."

Dean completed 18 of 22 passes for 229 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. Kearney had seven receptions for 80 yards, including touchdown catches of 21 and 31 yards. He also rushed for 62 yards on 14 carries, and handled the return and punting duties. Dean also played defensive back.

A number of Dolphins played both ways.

"It gets tiring out there, but it's fun," Kearney said.

"I mean, we've conditioned enough, in the offseason, we've trained," Dean said. "We're so far into the season. We've fine tuned the components. We were rolling on offense and stopping them on defense."

With the victory, the Dolphins earned a crack at top-seeded Edison in the quarterfinals. Edison will be the home team next Friday night, but the site has yet to be announced. It will probably end up at Huntington Beach High or Orange Coast College.

Dana Hills and Edison met back in Week 3. The Dolphins had a 17-13 lead at the half before the Chargers roared back in the second half to win 34-17.

"Rematches are great," Dean said. "It's a chance at redemption. We played them tough last time, but not tough enough. We have to play two halves."

Dana Hills took the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards in 12 plays. Dean was 5 of 6 for 61 yards on the drive. He connected with Kearney on a short pass and Kearney turned it into a 21-yard touchdown. Kearney got a great block from wide receiver Zach Alario down field. Brenden Beckley missed the extra point wide left, but the Dolphins had a 6-0 lead.

Orange Lutheran went three-and-out on its first three possession and didn't get a first down until the second quarter.

The Dolphins drove to Orange Lutheran's 17 on their second possession before stalling. Beckley missed a 5-yard field goal attempt wide right. Beckley got another chance at a 35-yard field goal early in the second quarter and this time he drilled it right down the middle to give the Dolphins a 9-0 lead.

The Lancers (6-5) finally put a drive together late in the first half before penalties knocked them back and forced them to settle for a 45-yard field goal by Parker Flynn to cut Dana Hills' lead to 9-3.

Dana Hills went 80 yards to take a 16-3 lead with 30 seconds left in the half. Dean hit Kearney and he went 31 yards for his second touchdown.

Orange Lutheran looked like it had something going when it took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove deep into Dana Hills' territory, but Trent Mason picked off Lancers quarterback Mike Markovsky and the Dolphins took over at their own 20.

Orange Lutheran was faced with a fourth-and-7 from its own 27 on its next possession and the Lancers attempted a fake punt. The pass fell incomplete and the Dolphins took over on downs. Dean hooked up with Alario for an 18-yard gain and Cole Altuzarra scored on a 9-yard run on the next play and just like that the Dolphins lead had blossomed to 23-3.

Markovsy scored on a 1-yard run to cap a 7-play, 80-yard scoring drive for the Lancers in the fourth quarter, but the Dolphins responded immediately as Dean found Alario on a 9-yard touchdown pass to make it 30-10.

Orange Lutheran finished the season 6-5.