De Loera’s big night not enough to keep Ocean View unbeaten at Katella

It was clear to the entirety of the Ocean View High football program the kind of challenge it was walking into Friday night.

During the week, Seahawks coach Luis Nunez was telling his players that the impending road game at Anaheim Katella would be his team’s stiffest test of the season.

It was everything that he promised. It was physical, it was close, and at times, it got nasty after the whistle had blown.

What else could you expect when a defending league champion welcomes an up-and-coming undefeated opponent into its house for Homecoming?

Noah De Loera had 223 rushing yards and two touchdowns, but it was Katella that came away with a 34-33 victory in a riveting nonleague game at Glover Stadium.

The Knights (4-1) won their fourth in a row since losing their two starting running backs, Jose Camacho and Joshua Cedillo, in their opener.

Miles Poland ran for 48 yards and three touchdowns in the first varsity game of his career. The sophomore scored the winning touchdown on a 16-yard run with 9:28 left. He also authored a nine-yard run for a first down, clinching the victory as the Knights ran out the clock.

Four players — Poland, Jesus Zunigas, Nathan Arrington and Isaac Anderson — rushed for at least 30 yards for the Knights.

“Our running game has been very average this year, but it has been just kind of workmanlike,” Knights coach Fred DiPalma said. “We just kind of get it done. We’re not going 40 yards, but we’re going four and six. Just enough to maintain control of the ball.”

“These kids have kind of been rotating in, and they just did a wonderful job. Miles is going to be really good.”

The Knights rushed the ball 21 times for 100 yards before the break.

De Loera had racked up 182 yards on 21 carries through three quarters, but the Knights finally got to him for some negative running plays in the final period.

Middle linebacker Marcus Castro and defensive end Leo Mauricio were among those to make big plays behind the line of scrimmage.

“Noah, what can I say?’ Nunez said. “He’s just a hell of a player. The kid plays with so much heart.”

“He definitely lived up to the award he got this week (Daily Pilot Football Player of the Week). He came out and he ran hard.”

The best chance for the Seahawks (3-1) to retake the lead came on the drive immediately following Poland’s final score. Ocean View got the ball and advanced it from its own 37 to the Katella 6.

On fourth-and-four, Nunez opted to keep the offense on the field. Seahawks kicker Adam Meyer had missed a pair of PATs, which may have factored into the decision. The other consideration was that neither offense was being kept down for long.

Noah Hickman took the snap and saw the 6-foot-5 Meyer in one-on-one coverage up the seam. The tight end went vertical in the back of the end zone, but the pass fell incomplete after tipping off his hands. Meyer gestured for a flag that he did not get, and the ball went back to the Knights with 5:01 remaining.

“I felt that I got hit early, but if the ref didn’t call it, it didn’t happen,” Meyer said. “It was a catchable ball.”

“It was a great battle. This is a game that I’m never going to forget. Both teams just played a hell of a game. It was a great win by them. They deserved it.”

Meyer had five catches for 54 yards and two touchdowns. His second, a juggling catch going to the ground near the back left pylon, briefly gave the Seahawks a 33-27 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter.

After seeing De Loera run loose all night, Poland said the defensive stop topped any feeling he had in his three trips to the end zone.

“I was scared. I was like, ‘Please don’t get this. Please don’t get this.’ ”

“There was always that one running back play. Then we stopped them, and that was probably the best moment of the entire game for me.”

The Seahawks made big gains in the return game, and it served them well before the final drive of the first half. Rodrigo Adame brought the ball out to midfield with 1:10 to go.

De Loera broke a 29-yard run to open the drive. Later, a touchdown was dropped by an open Naeco Logan, but a defensive pass interference penalty on fourth-and-10 extended the drive. Two plays later, Hickman found Meyer coming out of his break near the front left pylon for the game-tying score. Meyer’s kick was no good, and the teams went into the half knotted up at 20.

De Loera had 107 yards on nine carries in the first half, including a 42-yard score during which he made a single cut to the right sideline in his sprint to the end zone.

Katella 34, Ocean View 33

Ocean View……..….7 13 6 7 — 33

Anaheim Katella….7 13 7 7 — 34

FIRST QUARTER

Kat — Poland 1 run (Sifuentes kick), 3:55.

OV — De Loera 42 run (Meyer kick), 1:34.

SECOND QUARTER

Kat — Pisani 1 run (Sifuentes kick), 10:24.

OV — Adame 1 run (Meyer kick), 6:32.

Kat — Poland 3 run (Sifuentes kick failed), 1:18.

OV — Meyer 5 pass from Hickman (Meyer kick failed), 0:06.

THIRD QUARTER

OV — De Loera 1 run (Meyer kick failed), 7:39.

Kat — Tenorio 26 pass from Arrington (Sifuentes kick), 4:23.

FOURTH QUARTER

OV — Meyer 10 pass from Hickman (Meyer kick), 11:53.

Kat — Poland 16 run (Sifuentes kick), 9:28.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

OV — De Loera, 29-223, 2 TDs.

Kat — Poland, 9-48, 3 TDs; Zunigas, 9-54; Arrington, 10-47.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

OV — Hickman, 9-20-0, 95, 2 TDs.

Kat — Arrington, 11-14-0, 119, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

OV — Meyer, 5-54, 2 TDs.

Kat — Williams, 4-47.

Andrew.Turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner