SOUTHERN SECTION FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : Central Conference : La Habra Goes to Defense, Beats Artesia

All season, running back Chuck Weatherspoon has gained the headlines for La Habra High School’s football team while the defense has performed in relative obscurity.

On Saturday night, the Highlanders’ defense stole the spotlight in a 13-10 victory over Artesia that moved La Habra into the semifinals of the Central Conference playoffs. La Habra (10-2) will meet Saddleback (11-1) at a site that will be determined today.

The semifinal game will be a rematch of a nonleague game that Saddleback won, 34-0. It was La Habra’s worst loss of the season.

A crowd of 2,000 in La Habra Stadium watched tackle Mitch Diamond and linebacker Linton Weatherspoon make the big plays in the fourth quarter for the Highlanders in a very close game.

Diamond recovered Artesia fullback Victor Matas’ fumble at his own 26-yard line to end the Pioneers’ first scoring threat of the final quarter. La Habra was clinging to a 13-10 lead and the momentum was clearly in Artesia’s favor before the recovery.

Weatherspoon burst through the Pioneers’ offensive line to sack Artesia quarterback Brian Smith for a one-yard loss at the Highlander 38-yard line with 55 seconds left to seal the victory.

The Highlanders’ defense was brilliant, but their seventh consecutive win didn’t come without another outstanding game by Chuck Weatherspoon. The senior gained 158 yards and scored two touchdowns in 17 carries. Weatherspoon has totaled 1,226 yards for the season.

Weatherspoon is clearly the Highlanders’ most impressive weapon, yet La Habra Coach Bob Rau is often reluctant to utilize the fleet back. Weatherspoon had 94 yards in his first two carries, yet Rau called his number only six more times in the first half as La Habra built a 13-0 lead.

Weatherspoon scored the first time he touched the football, slanting through the left side of Artesia’s line and sprinting 55 yards for a touchdown. He combined speed and power on his next run, a nifty 39-yarder that set up his three-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. He had a 15.9 rushing average at halftime.

But instead of exploiting Weatherspoon’s remarkable talents, Rau went to sophomore quarterback Matt Shackelford. Shackelford was 5 of 11 for 34 yards for the night.

When asked later to explain his team’s letdown after opening a 13-0 lead, Rau said, “Anything I say would be pure conjecture. I don’t know if we got overconfident or what. It was a funny week. We didn’t have good practices.”

Weathersopon has averaged only 16 carries in 11 games.

“This sure wasn’t an artistic win,” Rau said. “The defense made the big plays and the defense played with intensity the entire game. It wasn’t pretty.” Artesia (8-4) scored its only touchdown of the first half with only five seconds remaining. The Pioneers drove 52 yards to the Highlander one-yard line and then played beat the clock to score.

La Habra’s defense kept the Pioneers out of the end zone on three consecutive plays before Armenta scored on a one-yard plunge. Armenta also had the play key of the drive, throwing a 31-yard option pass to tight end Mike Lau.

The touchdown snapped La Habra’s streak of 13 quarters without allowing a score, but La Habra never trailed in the game.