Central Conference : Imperiali Paces Sunny Hills’ Rout of La Quinta

Sunny Hills High School scored a combined 35 points in the second and third quarters en route to a 51-35 rout of La Quinta in the first round of the Southern Section Central Conference playoffs in Spaulding Stadium.

The Lancers (10-1) amassed 396 yards in total offense in eliminating the Aztecs (6-5) from the postseason tournament. La Quinta was held to minus 26 yards rushing.

Sunny Hills was paced by wide receiver/tailback Tim Imperiali, who scored two touchdowns. Imperiali rushed for 134 yards in 13 carries and caught 6 passes for 68 yards. He also returned kicks for the Lancers.

Two other Sunny Hills players, quarterback David Chisum and fullback Bryan Edmonds, also scored two touchdowns apiece.

It was Imperiali who opened the scoring midway through the first quarter by taking a pitch from Chisum and running around right end for a 10-yard touchdown. The point-after attempt failed, giving Sunny Hills a 6-0 lead with 7:13 remaining in the quarter.

Kicker Carlos Miramontes made up for his missed extra-point attempt by providing Sunny Hills with a 42-yard field goal with 3:49 remaining.

La Quinta got on the scoreboard with a 90-yard touchdown pass from Derek Debbs to wide receiver David Harriger with 2:48 left in the first period. Brian Giuliano added the point after to cut the Lancer lead to 9-7. It was the first of three touchdown passes for the pair, who also teamed on scores of 76 and 6 yards.

Chisum gave Sunny Hills a 23-13 halftime lead with touchdown runs of 3 and 9 yards in the second period.

Debbs finished with 13 of 32 passes for 340 yards and 4 touchdowns. He was intercepted once. Chisum was 10 of 13 for 161 yards.

The Sunny Hills defense, led by linebacker Scott Edmonds and defensive back A. J. Vidaurri, kept the Aztecs’ rushing game in check while sacking Debbs five times. Vidaurri also intercepted Debbs on the first play of the fourth quarter at the La Quinta 31 and returned the ball 10 yards to set up the final Sunny Hills touchdown.