PREP FOOTBALL : El Toro Beats Hawthorne, 26-20, Behind Johnson’s Passing

One arm, quarterback Bret Johnson’s right one, proved to be more valuable than a pair of swift legs Friday night as El Toro High School defeated Hawthorne, 26-20.

A crowd of 4,500 at Mission Viejo High saw Johnson complete 12 of 15 passes for 177 yards as the Chargers held off a late Cougar rally.

El Toro (10-2) advances to the semifinal round of the Southern Conference playoffs next week against Santa Ana, which beat Santa Monica. Hawthorne finishes at 9-2-1.

Curtis Conway, Hawthorne’s fleet-footed quarterback, brought the Cougars back from a 20-7 deficit starting the fourth quarter. And he did it mostly with his running.

Conway, who also threw for 167 yards and 2 touchdowns, completing 8 of 16 passes, rushed for 100 yards, most of which came when he was forced to scramble.

His best moves came on an incredible, 56-yard touchdown run to begin the fourth quarter.

On second-and-24 at his 44, Conway dropped to pass. He was chased from the pocket and circled back twice to avoid Charger defenders. His second swerve brought him close to his goal line.

Finally, Conway found a seam and ran past the entire El Toro defense on his way to the end zone.

“I’ve never seen a guy that fast before,” defensive tackle Corey Wayland said. “We were just trying to force him up the middle (during the game) and get as many people to hit him as possible.”

Outside of Conway, however, the Cougars could manage little else offensively. The other Cougar running backs, Rod Taylor and Brent Floyd, gained eight and seven yards, respectively.

El Toro got an added boost from running back Adam Brass. With El Toro uncharacteristically running more than passing, Brass gained 43 yards in 12 carries. He also scored 2 touchdowns on runs of 4 and 6 yards. His 6-yard burst gave El Toro a 26-14 lead with 7:50 to play.

Still, it was Johnson who led the Chargers, although he failed to throw a touchdown for one of the few times in his career. He really hit stride in the middle of the game. He completed five passes in a row at one point, including a 46-yard toss to wide receiver Chris McCarthy, who was streaking up the left sideline. The play gave El Toro a first down at the Hawthorne 15.

Brass then carried on four consecutive plays, including the four-yard touchdown.

“We wanted to work on our run game tonight,” El Toro Coach Bob Johnson said. “Generally, we saw some things in their defense (that showed we could run).

Johnson, who also is Bret’s father, said there was nothing specific the Charger staff saw.

Said Hawthorne Coach Goy Casillas: “We expected them to play the way they usually did. . . .passing. And they came out and ran.”

“We just came out with the run and we were successful, so we stuck with it,” Brass said.