Sunny Hills Finally Overcomes La Habra

There, hanging virtually unnoticed at midfield near the Sunny Hills High School bench, was a banner that read: “It’s R Turn Now.”

For Sunny Hills Coach Tim Devaney, the banner might just as well have been hanging there for four years. For four years, Sunny Hills entered its Freeway League showdown with rival La Habra as a big favorite, and for four years, Sunny Hills walked away an upset loser.

La Habra had beaten Sunny Hills five times in seven meetings over the past six years, but Sunny Hills changed the course of tradition and, in the process, took a big step toward the Freeway League championship with a convincing 31-6 victory Friday night at Buena Park High.

It wasn’t easy. In fact, the game took an all-too-familiar ugly twist for Devaney and Sunny Hills in the opening minutes when La Habra’s Jeff Besinaiz recovered a fumble in Sunny Hills’ end zone for a sudden 6-0 lead. Could history be repeating itself?

“I thought to myself, ‘I’ve seen that play before,’ ” Devaney said. “It was a replay of last year when we fumbled, they scored and then won the game (14-0). I told myself, ‘This can’t be happening again.’ ”

It didn’t. Sunny Hills (7-0, 2-0) regrouped after the early score, opening a 24-6 lead with its talented trio of running backs piling up the yardage against an outmanned La Habra defense.

Fullback Brian Pizula gained 62 yards in 14 carries and scored three touchdowns, including the go-ahead score that came on a nifty 23-yard run early in the second quarter. Pizula has now scored 14 touchdowns this season.

But it was speedster Mike Sullivan who provided the spark in the second half following a lethargic first half in which Sunny Hills managed to score only 10 points. Sullivan gained 77 yards in six carries and set up two touchdowns with some dazzling, breakaway runs.

“He was the guy I worried the most about going into the game,” said Jack Nicholls, La Habra coach. “We kept good field position for most of the first half, but then we let them have the ball deep in our territory twice, and they took advantage of it twice.

“We have eight players going both ways, and I think Sunny Hills wore us down a little in the second half. When you have three quality backs like they do, you can keep them fresh.”

La Habra (3-4, 1-1) struggled offensively, passing for only 62 yards and rushing for 70 yards. Quarterback Mark Moreno was on the run most of the evening and was pressured into 10 incompletions in 14 attempts.

“We were due,” Devaney said. “I thought our speed paid off in the second half.”