No. 1 Esperanza Proves Itself

If there were any doubts as to which is the best prep football team in Orange County, Esperanza High School did its best to clear them up Friday night.

Esperanza totaled 303 yards rushing while limiting Sunny Hills to 25 yards on the ground as the Aztecs rolled to a 42-0 nonleague victory in front of 3,500 fans at Buena Park High.

It marked the 32nd time that Esperanza has won in its last 33 games over three seasons.

Sunny Hills Coach Tim Devaney marveled at Esperanza’s efficiency, saying, “That’s a very good football team. They’re even quicker up front than they appeared on film, especially defensively.”

Defensive quickness allowed Esperanza to stop Sunny Hills runners behind the line of scrimmage nine times, and in the process make a good team look ordinary in the one-sided game.

Esperanza (5-0) has outscored five opponents, 217-14.

Still, there were some who doubted Esperanza’s credentials. Critics pointed to the inferior opponents that the Aztecs had played in four previous games and to the instability at quarterback after starter John Aed had struggled to complete only one pass last week.

Coach Gary Meek answered some of the critics with a change at quarterback. The results were promising as Garrett Campbell completed five of seven passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns.

Campbell threw scoring passes of 11 and seven yards to tight end Ken Hall and moved the Aztecs so effectively that they only punted once. Afterward, Esperanza’s most impressive player, two-way lineman Travis Kirschke, said the Aztecs had something to prove.

“I don’t want to bag on anyone, but we haven’t really played anyone good until tonight,” he said. “The team felt we had a lot to prove even though we’re No. 1. I thought this was the best game we’ve played and it came against a quality team.”

Sunny Hills (4-1) came into the game having allowed an average of only 7.5 points. But the Lancers found themselves trailing, 21-0, after the first quarter.

Esperanza’s talented inside linebacker, Tom Pellicer, set the tone for the game early when he intercepted Sunny Hills quarterback Bobby Sunderland’s first pass. Two plays later, Campbell threw his first touchdown pass and Esperanza was rolling.

Soon, the only suspense left in the second half was whether Sunny Hills would score. The Lancers’ frustrating evening came to an end when kicker Eric Smith slipped and fell while attempting a 53-yard field goal on the final play of the game.

It was the third shutout for Esperanza.

“(The defense has) set some goals, and they wanted a shutout tonight,” Meek said. “Sunny Hills is a good team, and quite honestly, we haven’t played too many teams who are very good.”