Buena Park Stumbles in Opener : Prep football: Brea-Olinda shuts out the Coyotes in the final three quarters for a 10-7 victory.

It was a debut at quarterback that Buena Park’s George McDonald would like to forget.

Buena Park fumbled six times, losing four, and Brea-Olinda held the Coyotes to no passing yards in a 10-7 nonleague victory Friday night before 1,500 at Brea-Olinda High.

McDonald, who rushed for more than 1,100 yards as a running back last season, switched to quarterback this season to run first-year Coach Bob Rau’s option offense.

In the opener, McDonald rushed for seven yards in 10 carries, fumbled three times, and completed none of three passes.

“Our kids got tired of hearing about Buena Park this, Buena Park that all week in the papers,” Brea-Olinda Coach Jon Looney said. “Our No. 1 goal was to stop McDonald and tonight our defense showed a lot of heart.”

On offense, running back Casey King led the way for Brea-Olinda rushing for 78 yards and a touchdown in 24 carries. King’s steady running offset an erratic performance by Brea-Olinda quarterback Paul Chiotti, who completed only eight of 17 passes for 64 yards.

While Chiotti misfired on several passes, he also had three which were dropped.

“Usually Paul doesn’t miss like that,” Looney said. “But I think he’s going to be fine.”

King scored Brea-Olinda’s first touchdown on a one-yard run with 6 minutes 35 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

After Buena Park had stopped the Wildcats on their first possession, Chris Beamer punted. But the ball bounced off a Buena Park player and the Wildcats’ Kris Brattain recovered on the Buena Park 25.

Seven plays later, King scored and Tommy Prenovost’s conversion gave Brea-Olinda a 7-0 lead.

Buena Park converted on a similar miscue after its next possession. Buena Park’s punt bounced off Brea-Olinda’s Larry Willford at the Wildcat 18 and Robert Levanthal recovered for Buena Park.

Three plays later, McDonald scored on a two-yard option keeper, and Jude Reyes’ conversion tied the score, 7-7.

Keyed by King’s running, Brea-Olinda drove 55 yards in 8:08 and took the lead on Prenovost’s 39-yard field, which barely cleared the crossbar with 3:24 remaining in the second quarter.

In Buena Park’s four second-half possessions, the Coyotes turned the ball over on downs twice, punted once, and fumbled.

Good defense by Brea-Olinda or poor execution on offense by Buena Park? Depends on the point of view.

“We shut them down,” Looney said. “The only time they scored we gave them the ball at our 18.”

Said Rau: “A brand new system, brand new coaches, we told the kids there would be some rough spots. We said at the beginning of the year we have five practice games to get it where we want to be.”