Hreno Fills In, Leads Chaminade to 1st Win

Chaminade High finally found a way to win a football game Friday night.

All the Eagles had to do was lose their leading rusher and scorer to an injury.

Chaminade rallied from a 10-7 halftime deficit to defeat Calabasas, 28-10, and did it without tailback-linebacker Tim Lavin, who entered the game with 229 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the Eagles’ first two games.

Lavin went down with a sprained knee on Chaminade’s first possession and didn’t return, leaving it up to the rest of the Eagles to produce the team’s first victory of 1987.

After a quiet first half, they did just that, outscoring Calabasas, 21-0, in the second half.

“That first half was ugly. Lavin’s injury kind of shook us up,” Chaminade Coach Rich Lawson said. “It forced us to go to the well--and our well was pretty deep.”

Subbing for Lavin, backup tailback John Hreno rushed for 105 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. His 17-yard touchdown run late in the third period put the Eagles up 21-10, and his one-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter sealed the Coyotes’ defeat.

The Eagle defense, spearheaded by linebackers Jim Meredith and Chris Coyle, held Calabasas to 56 yards in the second half.

The Coyotes, who played without regular quarterback Ceo Wimmer, out with a chipped bone in his foot, held their own for a half, outgaining Chaminade 188-43.