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La Habra wins thriller against La Mirada
The Highlanders pull out a hard-fought, 23-17 victory without their star QB.
LA HABRA - Everyone associated with La Habra football finally was able to exhale a bit with 47.4 seconds remaining in Thursday's nonleague game against La Mirada.
The Matadores, trailing by six, moved the ball down to the La Habra 13, but failed to gain any yards on the next three plays, eventually turning the ball over on downs and giving the Highlanders a hard-fought, 23-17 victory.
La Mirada, the defending Southern Division champion, fell to 0-2.
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"It was a bizarre game," La Habra coach Frank Mazzotta said. "They (La Mirada) run the ball so well and control the clock, so we knew we wouldn't have many possessions."
As expected, La Habra's offense struggled without starting quarterback Cody Clements in the lineup. Clements, a senior, sat out the game to rest his right knee, which he injured last week against Orange Lutheran.
Matt Yackey and Alex Ibarra split the duties. Yackey completed five of nine passes for 56 yards.
The Highlanders (1-1) had the ball just twice in the second half, but managed to score 13 points, including Ahmad Avery's game-clinching touchdown with 4:19 left. Avery rushed for 77 yards. Drake Griffin went for 116.
With the scored tied at 17, La Habra took possession on the La Mirada 35. With Yackey at quarterback, the Highlanders went 65 yards in nine plays, ending in Avery's score. Sean Wale's extra point was blocked, however.
"When we had the possession, we had to make the most of it," Mazzotta said.
The second half started ominously for the Highlanders, who fumbled the kickoff, giving the Matadores possession on the La Habra 30. The Matadores would eventually tie the game at 10 with 1:21 left in the third quarter.
Vai Peko responded by returning the ensuing kickoff 90 yards to give the Highlanders a 17-10 lead.
"I saw my guys block and do what they're supposed to do, I saw the hole and I hit it," Peko said.
However, La Mirada responded with a workmanlike, 14-play, 80-yard drive to tie the game at 17 with 8:24 left in the game.
"We have a lot of inexperience in some spots and La Mirada is a good, physical football team and they're going to test your manhood by running ball up and down the field," Mazzotta said. "They tested us."
La Habra opened the scoring in the first quarter with 4:52 remaining on a 43-yard run by Drake Griffen. Sean Wale added a 34-yard field goal with 1:15 left in the first half to give the Highlanders a 10-0 halftime lead.
La Habra handed La Mirada its only defeat last season, 54-13.
