ORANGE COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL : Garden Grove League : Kennedy Gets a Big Rush, Beats Garden Grove, 28-0

What has been a weakness for Kennedy High School became a strength Thursday night.

For the first time this season the Irish rushed for more than 100 yards as a team, gaining 206 yards in a 28-0 Garden Grove League victory over Garden Grove in front of 200 in Handel Stadium at Anaheim.

The yardage was divided among 10 players, including guard Rick Magallanes, who recovered an Irish fumble and gained three yards. David Rocchi was the leading rusher with 50 yards in 7 carries. He scored on a 29-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Ed Williams had 31 yards in 12 carries and scored his team’s first touchdown on a one-yard run. Paul Garcia added 30 yards, all of which came on a third-quarter reverse play for a score that gave the Irish a 21-0 lead.

“We have a good-sized offensive line, but we had problems with breakdowns,” Kennedy Coach Mitch Olson said. “We told the kids tonight that, in order to win, we had to come out and move the ball on the ground.”

Kennedy (2-4-1, 2-1-1) opened the game by driving 69 yards in 12 plays, 11 of which were runs. Williams followed the blocks of Magallanes and Al Ybarra for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 6:23 left in the first quarter.

Quarterback Pete Montera, who was 11 of 15 for 102 yards, threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Greg Hansell for a 14-0 lead with 47 seconds left in the half.

The Argonauts (1-6, 0-4), who have six straight losses, were unable to sustain a drive and had only 121 total yards.