Tustin Defense Saves Ellis’ Debut : Football: Honolulu Pac-Five offense has trouble all night with Tillers, who win, 14-7.

It wasn’t easy, and it certainly wasn’t pretty, but Tustin’s Tim Ellis had a successful coaching debut Friday night in Aloha Stadium.

The Tillers had four interceptions and four sacks in a 14-7 victory over Honolulu Pac-Five. Tustin defensive back Darien Waters intercepted a pass in his end zone to end Pac-Five’s last threat late in the fourth quarter.

Ellis replaced highly successful Marijon Ancich last spring. He previously was an assistant at Bellflower St. John Bosco. Friday night’s opener was supposed to fairly easy for Tustin, which beat Pac-Five, 37-7, three years ago.

Pac-Five, a team composed of athletes from five small private schools, was coming off a 49-28 loss to Maui St. Anthony last week. But quarterback Tyler Forsythe kept the host team close by passing for 196 yards.

“We did a good job of containing him,” Ellis said. “He passed for some yardage, but nothing that hurt us. We worked hard all week and now it’s time to have some fun.”

While Tustin’s defense was outstanding, its offense was sporadic. Running backs Jason Reynolds (12 carries, 124 yards) and Lamar Barrett (11 carries, 75 yards) were solid, but the Tillers passed for only 42 yards.

Reynolds had the game’s best play, breaking two tackles on a 75-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Barrett had a 46-yard run in the third quarter.

But penalties and dropped passes kept the Tillers from scoring more. Tustin was penalized 13 times for 145 yards.

“It seemed like every time I looked up, it was second and 20,” Ellis said. “We threw the ball well, but our receivers dropped the ball. Unfortunately, we didn’t do a good job of running the option.”

Jon Lauderdale, a returning all-Sea View selection, led the defense at middle linebacker with two sacks.

“Jon was outstanding,” Ellis said. “I liked the way our defense swarmed to the ball. It wasn’t a pretty win, but I’ll take it.”