No. 10 Villa Park makes strong statement in victory

ORANGE - Villa Park's football team continued to bolster its reputation as a major contender in the CIF Southwest Division by delivering another impressive performance Thursday.

But this time, the No. 10 Spartans' opponent was the team that might know the division's contenders the best: El Dorado.

Quarterback Blair Boyce passed for 191 yards and two touchdowns while Nick Privitelli and Meki Tafuna combined for 155 yards on the ground as Villa Park stayed undefeated with a 59-7 victory against the Golden Hawks in a Century League game at El Modena.

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OCVarsity Hot Shots: Thursday's game action

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Jacob Scavuzzo also returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown and caught a 64-yard touchdown pass from Boyce for Villa Park (8-0, 4-0), ranked No. 1 in the Southwest.

El Dorado (3-6, 1-4) opened the season by playing No. 2 La Habra and No. 3 Yorba Linda, so count Golden Hawks coach Shawn Racobs as the expert on the division.

"I'm not going to make a prediction," he said. "I will say that they're the top three in the division for a reason."

Villa Park played all three phases – offense, defense and special teams - well against El Dorado.

The Spartans racked up 391 yards of offense.

They featured the quick, 5-foot-4 Privitelli, who broke a 51-yard touchdown run on the second play on Villa Park's second possession.

Privitelli showed power on the Spartans' next possession, running over a defender for a short gain. Villa Park next fed the powerful, 225-pound Tafuna, who broke a 29-yard run to the El Dorado 23. Villa Park's offense showed more balance with a play-action play that featured a 16-yard pass from Boyce to Nate Roberts to set up a third-and-goal at the Golden Hawks 2.

Tafuna scored on a 2-yard run as Villa Park opened a 14-0 lead.

The Spartans' defense recorded four sacks and held El Dorado to 64 yards on the ground.

Villa Park's defensive line of Ty Hudson, Danny Fieeiki, Lenny Cowans, Tafuna and Rudy Hurtado anchored the unit.

On special teams, Scavuzzo – also a standout in baseball and track – returned a kickoff 99 yards in the second quarter as the Spartans opened a 35-7 lead. The return tied the 1992 school record set by Grant Pearsall in 1992.

Kicker Andrew Sanders added a 42-yard field goal in the second half.

Villa Park accomplished it all after Spartans coach Dusan Ancich said his team didn't practice well during the week after an emotional, 28-21, overtime victory against Foothill last week.

Ancich said he shared the story of Buster Douglas' upset victory against a previously undefeated Mike Tyson for the heavyweight title in boxing in 1990 to help motivate his team.

"We had one of those weeks," he said. "Coming off a big game, they had to be riled up."

When asked how good his team is, Ancich replied, "We'll find out next week."

Villa Park moves on to play Brea Olinda (6-1, 2-1).