Huntington Beach Defense Dominates in 28-8 Victory

Huntington Beach’s defense held Bishop Montgomery’s offense to 45 total yards and set up three touchdowns in a 28-8 nonleague victory Friday at Sheue Field.

Huntington Beach (2-0), which scored 16 of its points in the second quarter, got nine because of turnovers. The first score came midway in the quarter when Bishop Montgomery quarterback Alex Smith fumbled the ball out of the end zone for a safety as he was pursued by three Oilers.

Huntington Beach, which led, 7-0, before the safety, increased its lead to 16-0 with 24 seconds left in the half. Four plays after Huntington Beach defensive back Tom Flores intercepted a Smith pass at the Knight 48, Oiler quarterback Eric Pettinato caught an 11-yard pass from tailback Skip Murray for a touchdown.

Smith, playing in place of injured starter Niu Sale (broken right wrist), completed only 3 of 16 passes for 24 yards. One of those passes accounted for the Knights’ only score--a 5-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Zimmerman with 45 seconds remaining.

“It was ugly for a long time,” said Huntington Beach Coach Pascoe. “We played well in spots tonight, but in other spots we played terribly. In the drive leading to their only touchdown, we showed a lack of discipline when we allowed so many yards (47) in penalties in the series. There’s no excuse for that.”

Huntington Beach put the game out of reach with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. The first, a 24-yard Murray run, came immediately after Knight punter Shawn Balleras was sacked on his own 24 after handling a high snap.

The second, a 19-yard Pettinato pass to Doobie Escobedo, came four plays after the Oilers recovered a Knight kickoff fumble at the Bishop Montgomery 32.

“When you lose your best like we did when we lost Sale last week, it’s gonna hurt,” said Bishop Montgomery Coach Andy Szabatura, “but that’s no excuse for how we played.”