Dana Hills Goes Out on Winning Note

Dana Hills and El Toro lined up for their final game of the season with nowhere to go. Except maybe up.

“It seems like you always want to win your last game,” said Dana Hills Coach Don Douglass. “That way, the seniors go out with a good feeling and the juniors come back with a good feeling.”

Friday night, it was Dana Hills that was feeling the best. The Dolphins (4-5, 2-3 in league) ended the season with a 25-8 South Coast League victory over El Toro (2-7-1, 0-5) at Dana Hills High School.

It was a disappointing season for both teams. Dana Hills reached the Southern Section finals last year and El Toro, which always seems to make the playoffs, did not win a league game.

“Our offense finally clicked,” said Dana Hills quarterback Scott Covington. “Unfortunately, it was at the end when the season was over.”

Covington and wide receiver Micah Denison connected on touchdown passes of 33 and 52 yards to give Dana Hills a 12-0 lead. The extra point was missed on the first score and the conversion pass failed on the second.

As has been the case most of the season, it was the Dana Hills defense that put the Dolphins in position to score. The first touchdown came after Dana Hills stopped El Toro at its own five. The second touchdown was set up when El Toro was stopped on a fourth down and 10 at the Dana Hills 49.

The defense put Dana Hills up 18-0 when middle linebacker Robert Meeker returned an interception 33 yards for a touchdown with 15 seconds remaining in the half.

The Dolphins put the game away with a one-yard touchdown run by Mark Reynosa on the first drive of the second half.

Later in the third quarter, the Chargers’ Taylor Swallow scored on a two-yard touchdown run and Bryan Lefevers passed to Joshua Enders on the two-point conversion to avert the shutout for El Toro.