PREP FOOTBALL : Loara Takes Control Early, Handles Esperanza, 22-6

Loara, which entered Thursday night’s game against Empire League opponent Esperanza having held four teams scoreless, continued its defensive domination by holding Esperanza to 54 yards in the first half of a 22-6 victory in front of a crowd of 700 at Glover Stadium.

Esperanza (4-4, 0-3) fumbled deep in its own territory to set up a Loara touchdown and had 54 yards in penalties.

Loara (5-2-1, 1-1-1) dominated from the start, scoring on its first possession.

Quarterback Jeff Gordon accounted for 108 of Loara’s 174 yards, and he scrambled for 2 critical first downs on fourth-down plays, both leading to touchdowns.

On the Saxons’ first play of the game, Gordon threw a 39-yard completion to junior Brett Banta to the Esperanza 37. Three plays later, on fourth and 6, Gordon was forced out of the pocket, cut left and turned upfield for a 26-yard gain to the Esperanza 8.

Two plays later, he ran in from the 1. With kicker Chris Hoffman injured, Loara Coach Herb Hill opted for the 2-point conversion, and Randy Halcomb scored to make it 8-0.

Esperanza’s only score came in the second quarter and was set up when Halcomb fumbled on his 33, and the Aztecs’ Dan Mondragon recovered. The Aztecs ran 9 consecutive times, using Lance Brown on 6 plays, to get it into the end zone. The pass attempt for 2 points failed.

Loara gained possession in the third quarter when guard Chris Jensen sacked Keith McDonald and jarred the football loose. Troy Clark recovered for Loara on the 26. Gordon kept the drive alive four plays later on fourth and 3 with a 5-yard run, then capped it with a 14-yard lob to Adrian Oliphant in the left corner of the end zone.

Loara’s final score came in the fourth quarter after Mondragon fumbled a snap and Loara recovered at Esperanza’s 33. Five rushes later, Gordon scored from the 1.

Esperanza substituted quarterback Mike Aed for McDonald in the third quarter, and Aed came out throwing--unsuccessfully. The two quarterbacks combined to complete 4 of 15 passes for 36 yards.

“Defensively we were able to contain them, and that was the key,” Hill said. “And we had offensive spurts. I wouldn’t exactly label it domination.”