PREP FOOTBALL : Chamberlain Helps Lead El Dorado Over Cypress

The El Dorado High School football team began its stretch run for a playoff berth in impressive fashion Thursday with a 28-16 victory over Cypress in Empire League play at Bradford Stadium in Placentia.

The Golden Hawks--currently tied for third in the league with Loara, Kennedy and Esperanza--have the toughest road to one of the three playoff spots because they must play first-place Los Alamitos and second-place Pacifica in the next two weeks.

The Golden Hawks were led by Rich Chamberlain, a 5-foot 11-inch, 185-pound senior tailback, who rushed for 184 yards and two touchdowns to help El Dorado improve its record to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the league.

El Dorado opened the scoring on its second play from scrimmage when Chamberlain ripped 65 yards for a touchdown.

Later in the first period, Cypress made it, 7-7, when Centurion cornerback Jeff Ballinger stepped in front of an El Dorado wide receiver on a quick pass, intercepted it and returned it 37 yards for the score.

The Golden Hawks didn’t let that miscue faze them. They marched 71 yards in 8 plays, with the touchdown coming on a 40-yard pass from quarterback Dan Sutherland to tight end Curtis Barry.

Cypress managed to cut that to 14-10 before halftime on the strength of a 35-yard field goal by Lee Milton. In the third quarter, the Centurions took a brief lead at 16-14 on a 43-yard touchdown pass from Troy O’Leary to Jeff De Prez.

After that, El Dorado mounted long touchdown drives in the third and fourth quarters to pull out the victory.

The Golden Hawks went ahead, 21-16, on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Sutherland to Jim Buck and closed the scoring in the fourth quarter on a 13-yard run by Chamberlain.

Cypress, which fell to 3-5 and 0-5, played well throughout, getting 94 yards rushing from halfback Blaise Bryant.

ED--Chamberlain 65 run (Dean kick)

CYP--Ballinger 37 interception return (Milton kick)

ED--Curtis 40 pass from Sutherland (Dean kick)

CYP--FG Milton 35

CYP--De Prez 43 pass from O’Leary (kick failed)

ED--Buck 13 pass from Sutherland (Dean kick)

ED--Chamberlain 13 run (Dean kick)

Attendance--1,000.