Tustin back on track, but Villa Park much improved

Last year, Villa Park and Tustin clashed in the CIF-SS Southwest Division semifinals.

Friday, their meeting will come a round earlier.

The Tillers will host the top-seeded Spartans in a second-round game.

Tustin defeated Villa Park, 20-7, last year.

"Last season, they didn't have much offense and they were outstanding on defense," Tustin coach Myron Miller said. "This season, they're good defensively and they're much better offensively. They're putting up points on everybody."

Villa Park has scored 540 points this season and is averaging 49 points a game. The only team to hold Villa Park under 30 was Foothill on Oct. 21. The Spartans won that game, 28-21.

"This is quite a test," Miller said. "Their quarterback (Blair Boyce) is having an outstanding year, they have a tough running game and they have a kicker (Andrew Sanders) that can kick it 50 yards and put the ball in the end zone (on kickoffs) ... They don't have any weaknesses."

"We have them at our place and we hope to make it a good game."

Tustin had a slow start to the league season, going 1-1, losing to Yorba Linda, 14-12, and defeating Valencia, 10-6.

Since then, the Tillers have resembled the Tustin of past. The offensive line is healthy, which means running lanes for the backs, led by senior Tyler Siudzinski.

Siudzinksi rushed for 250 yards last week against Aliso Niguel.

"We're healthy," Miller said. "We don't have any excuses."

The winner will face either Foothill or Cypress in the semifinals.

• The Foothill-Cypress second round game will be played Saturday at Tustin High. The game starts at 7 p.m.

Both Tustin and Foothill share Northrup Field at Tustin as their home field. With both teams having home games this week, the Foothill game was moved to Saturday.

• Santa Margarita kicker John McGrory had his consecutive streak of successful extra points snapped at 106 when he missed one in the game against Bishop Amat. McGrory's 106 successful PAT's is the new record for both the county and CIF-Southern Section.

• Whittier Christian's second-round game against Monrovia will start at 7 p.m. The game will be played at Whittier College. Also, the Laguna Beach-Segerstrom game in the Southern Division game will also start at 7 p.m.

• It was a night of firsts for the Ocean View football program Friday night.

The Seahawks played their first home playoff game since 1989 when they faced Santa Ana Valley and the 26-21 victory for Ocean View was the first playoff victory in the school's history.

• The Cox3 Game of the Week is the Southwest Division game featuring Yorba Linda against third-seeded El Toro at Trabuco Hills.

The game starts at 7 p.m. The first replay will be shown 11:30 p.m. Friday night.

Yorba Linda defeated Troy, 28-23, in the first round. El Toro defeated Esperanza, 54-30.