Savanna Has the Strength in Reserve

Who was that guy?

Remember this name . . . Garden Grove probably won’t soon forget him.

The name is Jeremy Klemp, and although he was only in for two plays, it apparently was what Savanna needed to get going toward a 28-0 victory Friday night at Glover Stadium.

With 5:45 left in the third quarter of a scoreless tie, Fred DiPalma, Savanna’s coach, inserted Klemp, a 6-0, 175 pound senior, when starting quarterback Paul Waldrop had to leave the game. “He dinged his ankle the play before,” DiPalma said.

On Klemp’s first play, he passed 13 yards to Scott Bevan to the Garden Grove one. On his second, he handed to Canhhuy Nguyen, who scored the touchdown that put Savanna ahead for good.

A couple of minutes later, Savanna scored again when Omar Perez rushed in to block a Joe Snavely punt after a high snap from center, picked up the ball and ran 14 yards for the touchdown.

Nguyen set the next Savanna score up when he raced 37 yards to the Garden Grove three. Dustin Bolton scored on the next play to give the Rebels a 21-0 lead.

Mike Flores then recovered a fumble with 5:25 remaining, and Nguyen put the finishing touches on the victory by racing 13 yards around left end.

Nguyen paced Savanna in rushing with 59 yards on eight carries, and Daven King finished with 38 yards on 15 carries.

Savanna missed several scoring opportunities early when the Rebels’ Flores recovered a Jeff Van Horn fumble on the opening kickoff. Garden Grove’s Snavely and Dave Cash stopped King on a fourth and two.

On the Rebels’ next possession, Van Horn stopped King, again on fourth-and-two.

“We haven’t done well against Garden Grove in the last four years,” DiPalma said of Savanna’s four-game losing streak. “Our chant was ‘O-for-Grove.’ ”

After Savanna missed its three scoring chances early, DiPalma said, “I could sense a lot of frustration on the whole team. We have to capitalize more when the opportunities are there.”

Garden Grove was led in rushing by Jeff Meyers, who gained 65 yards on 19 carries. Deshon Thomas had an interception.