Villa Park Is Entertaining but Sloppy in Beating Loara

If nothing else, Villa Park and Loara proved you don’t need highly ranked teams with highly sought-after recruits to produce an entertaining football game.

OK, that’s the positive spin on Villa Park’s 17-10 nonleague victory over Loara Thursday night at El Modena High.

Leave it to Villa Park Coach Pat Mahoney to point out some of the Spartans’ shortcomings in a game that might look even sloppier on videotape this afternoon.

“We have to continue to improve our tackling,” he said. “We’re not wrapping up. Defensively, we can do a much better job.”

That might have accounted for several big gains by Loara running backs Denison Dawson, who had 95 yards in 14 carries, and Brandon Hellerud, who added 51 yards in 12 carries.

“Give Loara credit,” Mahoney added. “They have a lot of young players.”

Dawson and Hellerud, who scored the Saxons’ only touchdown on a one-yard run in the second quarter, were most impressive. And thanks to the backs, Loara (0-4) had tied the score, 10-10, by halftime.

Mahoney was not happy with his players.

“I just gave them a good talking to,” he said of his halftime speech. “I tried to bring up their intensity level.”

Things clicked nicely on Villa Park’s third possession of the third quarter. A 51-yard interception return by Tony D’Amato to the Loara 27 set up what proved to be the winning score--a six-yard touchdown run by Grant Pearsall.

Pearsall, who gained 88 yards in 17 carries, scored earlier on a two-yard run.

Brett Polakoff kicked a 24-yard field goal for Villa Park (2-2) in the first quarter, but Bill Milligan kept Loara even with a 27-yard field goal less than four minutes later.