La Habra offense too much for Fullerton

LA HABRA - La Habra gave Fullerton a big dose of “Thunder” and a flash of “Lightning” in a showdown with the Freeway League championship on the line Friday night at La Habra High.


“Thunder and Lightning” proved to be too much for the Indians to handle and La Habra came away with a convincing 24-7 victory.

Running back Joshua Quezada was the “Thunder” in the equation as he piled up 230 yards on 19 carries, including touchdown runs of 36 and 44 yards.

Ronnie Hillman’s speed and moves were the “Lightning” portion of the program, as he finished with 105 yards on 13 carries, including a 70-yard touchdown run.

“That’s that ‘Thunder and Lightning,’” Hillman said. “He’s more of the harder runner and I’m more of the quick and getting-around-you type. He’s a great running back. Teams have to watch out for him. Key on me, then you got him. Everybody is scared of ‘Thunder.’”

La Habra finished with 376 yards of total offense, including 356 on the ground.

“I’m lucky,” La Habra coach Frank Mazzotta said. “No. 1, I got great kids and I got a really great coaching staff. Then you add a couple of special special guys like Joshua and a special special guy like Ronnie and my life becomes really simple.”

Fullerton (7-2, 3-1) entered the game ranked No. 1 in the Southwest Division and La Habra (7-2, 4-0) was No. 3, but many believed the Highlanders were the favored team because of their strong showings in defeat to Pac-5 contenders Los Alamitos and San Clemente.

“That’s definitely part of it,” Mazzotta said of building a strong team through a tough nonleague schedule. “You play a tough schedule to get you ready for big games. … We played Los Al. You can’t get much better than Los Al. You can’t get much better than San Clemente. They are right there in big-time football. We knew it can’t get much better. If we just hang in there and do what we do well, we’ll be OK.”

La Habra took control of the game early, scoring on its first possession when Quezada burst untouched up the middle for a 36-yard score.

The Highlanders added a 25-yard field goal by John Raeas the first half ended to build their lead to 10-0.

The Indians kept Hillman in check for much of the first half, but he broke a 870-yard touchdown run on La Habra’s opening possession of the second half to push the lead to 17-0.
Fullerton responded with a 15-play, 70-yard scoring drive capped by Michael Allain’s 1-yard touchdown run to cut it to 17-7.

But La Habra got a score in the fourth quarter that sealed it. The Highlanders were facing a third-and-23 before Quezada broke a 836-yard run for a first down. On the next play, Quezada scored on a 44-yard run for a commanding 24-7 lead with 6:41 remaining.

Contact the writer: carias@ocregister.com