Football: La Habra edges Tustin for Southwest Division championship
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Senior running back Drake Griffin of La Habra was simply unstoppable in the second half, rushing for 217 yards and three touchdowns over the final two quarters of the Highlanders’ 35-26 victory over Tustin in the Southern Section Southwest Division championship game Saturday afternoon at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.
Griffin, a transfer from Santa Fe Springs St. Paul, finished with 317 yards and four touchdowns in 29 carries and quarterback Cody Clements, who has committed to Washington State, completed five of eight passes for 58 yards and one touchdown for the third-seeded Highlanders (11-3), who overcame a 20-14 halftime deficit to win their fourth straight CIF title.
Tyler Siudzinski gained 142 yards in 17 carries for the top-seeded Tillers (12-2), who ran the ball on 68 of their 72 offensive plays. Terence Martinez had 98 yards and two touchdowns in 12 carries and Diego Mendoza added 87 yards and one touchdown in 23 carries. Quarterback Cody Oxby completed one of four passes for 11 yards for Tustin, which was trying to avenge a 26-14 defeat on the same field in the 2008 final.
Griffin scored on runs of 44, 11, four and nine yards -- the last completing an eight-play, 72-yard drive that gave La Habra a 35-26 lead with 6:07 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Mendoza completed a 14-play, 80-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run that gave the Tillers a 6-0 lead with 6:08 left in the first quarter, but he was tackled short of the end zone on the two-point try. Edward Tandy’s one-yard run and Mendoza’s conversion run put Tustin ahead, 14-7, with 2:38 remaining in the second quarter.
The Highlanders needed only 71 seconds to march 93 yards in three plays to take the lead for good, 21-20, on Griffin’s 11-yard up the middle. Griffin set up the score with a 64-yard run to the Tustin 18. He ended a six-play, 69-yard drive with a four-yard run that increased the Highlanders’ lead to 28-20 on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Clements threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Vai Peko that pulled La Habra to within six points with three seconds left in the first half.
La Habra ended the season on a nine-game winning streak. Its only losses were in nonleague games against Orange Lutheran, Anaheim Servite and Bellflower St. John Bosco of the Trinity League. Tustin entered Saturday’s final having won 11 in a row since its lone loss to Upland.
-- Steve Galluzzo