PREP FOOTBALL : El Toro Romps Over Villa Park, 28-7

El Toro High School defeated Villa Park so thoroughly Friday night it’s difficult to know where to begin a description of the carnage.

The junior quarterback, Steve Stenstrom, passed for 254 yards and 2 touchdowns. The sure-handed receiver, Sean Drinkwater, caught 6 of the passes for 74 yards and a touchdown. The steady fullback, David Nemeth, rushed for 58 yards in 16 carries. The backup tailback, Ken Romanisyn, gained 87 more in 12 carries.

And the defense turned back almost every thing Villa Park threw at it.

It all added up to a 28-7 victory for El Toro (2-1) in front of 1,500 at El Modena High.

The Villa Park offense looked pretty good between the 20-yard lines, but had trouble getting into the end zone.

The Spartans (1-2) turned the ball over on downs five times and did not mount a sustained drive.

Pat Mahoney, Villa Park coach, searched far and wide for a successful formula, but, in the end, couldn’t find anything that worked.

Three quarterbacks--Eric Helms, the starter, Chris Johnson and Jason Martian--shuttled in and out of the game, but could barely dent the Charger defense. The Chargers, sporting a balanced running and passing attack, seemed to confuse and confound the Spartans’ defense.

One of the bright spots for Villa Park was Mike Noble, the Spartans’ versatile senior.

Noble returned a kickoff 99 yards for a score, giving Villa Park its only touchdown and, for a few moments in the first quarter, hopes of upsetting El Toro, ranked ninth in the Orange County Sportswriters’ Assn. poll.

Noble also rushed for 27 yards in 6 carries, turned in a solid effort as a defensive back and recovered a fumble late in the game.

But Noble alone wasn’t enough to overcome El Toro, which came in waves at Villa Park.

The Chargers scored with 5:50 left in the first quarter, Stenstrom throwing 29 yards to running back Jerome Oakman for the score and a 7-0 lead.

Oakman, who gained 48 yards in 6 carries, was sidelined with an ankle injury just before halftime and did not play the second half.

Noble returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown and a short-lived, 7-7, tie.

But El Toro kicked into high gear in the second quarter.

Romanisyn, who doubles as the Chargers’ kicker, scored on a 10-yard burst through the line and El Toro regained the lead, 14-7. He scored again on a similar-looking run from 13 yards out with 5:53 left to give the Chargers a 21-7 lead.

Drinkwater, a senior, caught a nine-yard scoring pass from Stenstrom for good measure with 9:37 left.

“I just hope we keep rolling along,” El Toro Coach Bob Johnson said. “We’re young and improving. We just have to keep plugging away here in the preseason.”