Sunny Hills Runs Over Slumping La Habra

The prospects of a promising season continued to fade for La Habra High School’s football team Friday night.

The La Habra fans among the 2,800 on hand for the school’s 34th homecoming game had little to celebrate. Sunny Hills rolled up 239 yards rushing and breezed to a 26-0 victory in a Freeway League game that all but eliminated La Habra from postseason play.

La Habra (4-4, 0-3) has been outscored, 80-0, in its past two games. Only three weeks ago, La Habra concluded nonleague play with a surprising 4-1 record and appeared to be a strong contender for the league title.

But Sunny Hills (5-3, 3-0) will have the distinction of the playing for the league championship next week against Fullerton (7-1, 3-0).

La Habra Coach Jack Nichols thinks Sunny Hills’ simple approach will carry the Lancers to their second consecutive league title.

“They’re not very fancy, but they don’t make mistakes,” Nichols said. “They keep everything simple and just execute. They’re the best team in the league.”

Running backs Kenny Overby and Mike Sullivan proved Nichols’ point. Both were at their blue-collar best with Sullivan gaining 130 yards in 17 carries and Overby adding 93 yards in 15 carries.

Coach Tim Devaney did try to add a new wrinkle to Sunny Hills’ basic offense, but it wasn’t exactly a huge success. Quarterback Hakiem McKenzie went to a rollout passing attack, but completed only four of eight pass attempts for 37 yards.

“We’re still a little ways away,” Devaney said. “We tried rolling out McKenzie, because we think that’s what he can do best. At times, I thought it worked well.”

Few could find fault with Sunny Hills’ running game, though. The Lancers had 136 yards rushing in the first half as Overby, Sullivan and McKenzie took turns dashing through holes in La Habra’s line. Sullivan scored Sunny Hills’ first touchdown, slanting off left tackle and running untouched for a 35-yard score.

Defensive back Brent Howes set up Sunny Hills’ second touchdown when he recovered a fumbled punt return at La Habra’s 15-yard line. Four plays later, Overby scored on a one-yard run but the conversion kick failed and the Lancers had to be content with a 13-0 lead at halftime.

La Habra mounted its only sustained drive of the game in the final 1:13 of the first half. Quarterback Greg Mitchell, who was ineffective most of the game, completed a 19-yard pass to Steve Busch for a first down at midfield, but the half ended as kicker Bryan Cierley’s 47-yard field goal attempt fell just short.

Mitchell was five for 17 for only 37 yards and completed only one pass in the second half. La Habra played without tailback Jason Johnson, the county’s second-leading rusher with 978 yards. Johnson sat out the game with bruised ribs suffered in last week’s 54-0 loss to Buena Park.