Trabuco Hills Goes to Work Quickly : Mustangs Take 24-0 Halftime Lead, Coast Past Villa Park

Tim Manning’s first pass went incomplete. His second was caught by Greg Hughes for a 41-yard gain. After an illegal procedure penalty, Manning completed a 44-yard pass to Julian Ford for a touchdown.

Only three plays into Trabuco Hills High School’s nonleague game against Villa Park Thursday night, and the Mustangs led by a touchdown.

It got worse, never better, for Villa Park as Trabuco Hills went on to a 24-0 victory in front of 1,000 at El Modena’s Fred Kelly Stadium.

Manning, Trabuco Hills’ senior quarterback, completed 12 of 25 passes for 228 yards and three touchdowns. Trabuco Hills (4-1) added a 37-yard field goal by Hughes for a 24-0 halftime lead.

Villa Park (3-2) never had a chance, victimized by two intercepted passes thrown by quarterback Jason Martian and four fumbles, two each by running backs Gary Bladow and Craig Moresco.

The Spartans had only one chance to score and that fizzled when they were stopped on fourth and one at the Trabuco Hills three-yard line late in the game.

It was the second consecutive game Villa Park had been shut out. The Spartans lost, 15-0, to Orange last week after knocking off Los Alamitos, then Orange County’s top-ranked team, two weeks ago.

If the victory over Los Alamitos was the high point of Villa Park’s season, the low point surely came Thursday night.

Down 24-0 at halftime, the Spartans came out roaring in the third quarter . . . and promptly fumbled on their first series. They fumbled again on their second possession. On their third, they punted and by then Trabuco Hills had things well in hand.

“Villa Park is a good team,” said Jim Barnett, Trabuco Hills coach. “If we hadn’t gotten the jump on them early, it might have been different. If they hadn’t had those turnovers, it might have been different.”

Villa Park came out playing a tight, blitzing defense, leaving its defensive backs to cover the Trabuco Hills receivers man-to-man.

Manning threw that strategy for a loop. He struck quickly on the Mustangs’ first possession for a touchdown. In the second quarter, he hit Rick Sparks for touchdown passes of 29 and 11 yards.

“We were basically going with a post pattern, trying to mix up their DBs,” Manning said. “Barnett can pick apart a defense like no one I’ve ever seen.”

Villa Park held Trabuco Hills scoreless in the second half as the Mustangs played it conservatively.

Peter Burke gained 46 yards in 12 carries to key the Mustangs’ running attack. They were without leading rusher Ben Rooker, who injured his knee against Dana Hills three weeks ago.

Bladow gained 83 yards in 19 carries and Martian completed six of 12 passes for 93 yards to highlight a dreary evening for Villa Park.