La Habra proves who's No. 1

SANTA ANA The handmade banner held by La Habra's cheerleaders before the game delivered the first blow. 

"The coin toss may have given you (the) #1 seed but this game will show that LH is truly #1." 

La Habra backed up those words Friday by defeating Freeway League rival Fullerton, 16-6, in an emotionally-charged CIF-Southern Section Southeast football final at Santa Ana Stadium. 

In front of a raucous crowd of an estimated 8,000, La Habra and Fullerton settled a grudge match that had been boiling since the Southern California wildfires. 

The teams didn't play in league because of poor air quality. The rivalry then intensified after Fullerton picked up a forfeit victory in league over Troy,  which had an ineligible transfer from Fullerton and forfeited six victories. 

The Indians ended up as the league's co-champion with La Habra and won a coin toss to earn the league's No. 1 seed for the playoffs. 

But the Highlanders (13-0) claimed the top spot Friday by completing the first undefeated season in school history. 

"Yeah, we proved it," said La Habra running back Ronnie Hillman, who rushed for 164 yards and a touchdown. "We came out here and showed them who was the boss." 

Several Troy players celebrated the victory on the field afterward, but Fullerton made a strong showing. The Indians (9-4) picked off three passes and held the high-octane Highlanders to their lowest point total. 

Fullerton running back Michael Allain said his team played well but hurt itself with penalties. 

"The only thing that killed us was our penalties," said Allain, who scored the Indians' lone touchdown but was held to 63 yards on 19 carries. 

In perhaps a sign of the game's emotion, both teams were flagged for several penalties. Fullerton had seven for 50 yards; La Habra had nine for 65 yards. 

"It was a very emotional game," La Habra coach Frank Mazzotta said.

The Highlanders scored first as Hillman, a junior, used a great downfield block from fellow running back Jason Davis to break a 71-yard touchdown run along the Fullerton sideline with 33 seconds left in the first quarter. 

"Jason Davis — always," Hillman said. "He runs out of the backfield and gave a great effort to block." 

La Habra missed the extra point but added a 31-yard field goal by Petey Puga to take a 9-0 lead with 6:43 left in the second quarter. 

Fullerton answered before the half on a spectacular 2-yard touchdown run on third-and-goal by Allain. The junior followed a block from lineman Randall Hicks and leapt head over heels by launching himself off lineman Alejandro Prieto. The Indians' extra point also failed.

Leading 9-6 at halftime, the Highlanders used a reverse on a punt return to spark a score on their first possession of the second half. Puga took a reverse from Joshua Quezada at about his 40-yard line and raced to the Indians' 34. 

La Habra later used a throwback play from quarterback Chris Morales to Chris Alvarez to convert a third-and-4 from the 16.  Two plays later, Morales scored on a 2-yard run with 6:24 left in the third. The defenses then battled the rest of the way. 

La Habra's defense forced Fullerton to turn the ball over on downs at the Highlanders' 36 with 3:05 left in the fourth. La Habra cornerback Nick Sedaka sealed  the victory with an interception with 1:15 left. 

"That's a pretty good job by our defense," Mazzotta said. "(We) throw three picks and still win the ballgame. Typical Freeway League kind of a battle." 

Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com