DIVISION VII : Lancers Paint It Black for Garden Grove

The Black is Back.

Actually, what the cover of Sunny Hills’ home programs proclaimed this season was that the team was “back in black,” as in the color of its uniforms.

But with a 21-7 victory over Garden Grove in a Southern Section Division VII semifinal game Friday night in front of 3,500 at Buena Park High, the Lancers showed that their motto, if rearranged slightly, also means that they’re headed for another section title game.

The Lancers (11-1-1), the top-seeded team in the division, won the Division VI championship in 1990. Next Friday, they will be back in the hunt against the winner of tonight’s semifinal game between Rancho Alamitos and Lompoc.

Sunny Hills accomplished that much with a stellar defensive effort and a marvelous running attack led by Jacob Cuccia.

Cuccia rushed for 168 yards in 33 carries and scored a touchdown as the Lancers dominated on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

The Lancers had 310 yards in total offense and limited Garden Grove (6-7) to 142 total yards. Their defense also pounded Argonaut tailback Jim Sebreros, who rushed for only 86 yards and fumbled four times.

And Sunny Hills, which had been flagged for more than 210 yards the past two weeks, managed to keep the penalties down to seven for 40 yards against Garden Grove.

About the only thing that went wrong for Sunny Hills was the opening kickoff, which Sebreros ran back for 93 yards to give the Argonauts a 7-0 lead.

But then Cuccia and the Lancers took over control of the game.

Cuccia scored on a seven-yard run with 4 minutes, 55 seconds left in the second quarter to tie the game, 7-7.

He then did most of the work in a 70-yard, 11-play scoring drive to open the third quarter before running back Jeff Willis ran the ball in from the four.

After Sebreros fumbled on the third play of Garden Grove’s next possession and Aaron Winkler recovered for Sunny Hills, the Lancers marched 43 yards in nine plays for their final touchdown. Quarterback Bobby Sunderland, who passed for 61 yards, scored on a one-yard keeper.

The Argonauts had an excellent opportunity to close the gap early in the fourth quarter but couldn’t convert. With 30 seconds to play in the third quarter, defensive back Steve Hoalton intercepted a pass by Sunderland at the Garden Grove 21 and returned it 19 yards.

Garden Grove then picked up a first-and-goal at the Sunny Hills five when Lancer defensive back Craig Borsari was called for pass interference in the end zone on a pass intended for Hoalton. However, the Sunny Hills defense, led by linemen Emin Martinian and Jason Higgins, kept Garden Grove from scoring.

Besides the opening kickoff, Sebreros was not able to run wild as he had done the past two weeks, with more than 200 yards rushing in each of those games. But the talented senior had concerned Devaney going into the game.

“With a great kid like that, you are going to give him yards, but you can’t give him the home run,” Devaney said. “That was a great game between these football teams.”

Willis finished with 53 yards in 15 carries and Sunderland rushed for 38 yards in five carries. Besides Winkler, Josh Micklos, Eric David and Borsari recovered fumbles for Sunny Hills. Micklos also intercepted a pass by Sebreros on a flea-flicker late in the fourth quarter.

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GG--Sebreros 93 kickoff return (Schneider kick)

SH--Cuccia 7 run (Smith kick)

SH--Willis 4 run (Smith kick)

SH--Sunderland 1 run (Smith kick)

LEADING RUSHERS--GG: Sebreros 19-86; SH: Cuccia 33-168. LEADING PASSERS--GG: Schneider 3-6-0, 37; SH: Sunderland 5-10-1, 61. LEADING RECEIVERS--SH: Sebreros 2-19, Mendoza 2-18; SH: Cuccia 2-18.

Attendance--3,500.