Garden Grove League : Kennedy Tops Bolsa Grande by Capitalizing on Turnovers

Kennedy High School, taking advantage of several turnovers, defeated Bolsa Grande, 23-10, in Garden Grove League play before 200 Thursday night at Bolsa Grande.

After a less-than-stellar performance against Rancho Alamitos last week, Kennedy (2-3, 1-1) made amends by holding Bolsa Grande (2-3, 1-1) to seven yards rushing and 64 total yards in the first half, intercepting Bolsa quarterback Sonny Nguyen twice and recovering four of five Bolsa Grande fumbles.

The Fighting Irish amassed 197 yards in the first half, 124 on the ground.

“That was the whole difference in the ball game,” Kennedy Coach Mitch Olson said. “They gave us the ball a lot and we played a pretty good game. The kids were fired up. They played tough and were able to capitalize.”

Kennedy scored in two plays after Jason Mehr recovered Bolsa Grande’s first fumble at the Matador 15. Vince Church got all 15 yards. He scored on an eight-yard run to put Kennedy ahead, 7-0, late in the first quarter.

Kennedy went ahead, 14-3, after quarterback Russ Clark, who completed 10 of 17 passes for 104 yards and an interception, broke away for a 65-yard touchdown run off a busted play. On third down, Clark dropped back to pass from his 35 but his receivers were covered. He was chased out of the pocket, and scrambled to the sideline before outrunning the Bolsa Grande defense to the end zone. Clark ended up with 80 yards in six carries. Church carried 16 times for 45 yards and two touchdowns.

Kennedy scored once more in the half, again with help from Bolsa Grande. Matador quarterback Nguyen fumbled the ball out of his end zone for a safety and Kennedy took a 16-3 halftime lead.

Bolsa’s smaller line had trouble running against Kennedy’s size. Fighting Irish linebacker Keith Sewell, who last week set a school record with 30 tackles, was one of the main reasons for the Matadors’ troubles.

Nguyen mounted a drive early in the second quarter moving the Matadors from their 34 to the Kennedy 5. Key plays included a 19-yard completion to Jim Hanson and a 19-yard run by Carlos Torres. A pitch to Torres appeared to be a touchdown but the play was called back on a 15-yard illegal blocking penalty by Bolsa Grande. The Matadors settled for a 27-yard field goal by Nguyen.

In the fourth quarter, Nguyen and Torres missed the connection on a handoff, setting up the third Kennedy score off a fumble. The Fighting Irish recovered at Bolsa Grande’s 44 and eventually scored on Church’s one-yard run for a 23-3 lead.

Bolsa had an opportunity to score late in the fourth after Nguyen’s 43-yard completion to Trent Wood (seven catches, 108 yards) moved the Matadors to the Fighting Irish 17, but Marvin Dayao picked off Nguyen’s next pass.

With about a minute remaining, Bolsa finally made it into the end zone when Raul DeHesa returned a kickoff 68 yards for a touchdown.

Nguyen completed 12 of 27 passes for 149 yards and two interceptions.