SOUTHERN SECTION FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Kahouch Finds Strength to Help Savanna Win Title : Division VI: County’s top receiver had been ill, but he comes up big at the end in 20-13 victory over Whittier.

Savanna’s Rani Kahouch, the leading receiver in Orange County this season, couldn’t get his hands on the ball in the first half as he was being double and triple-teamed by Whittier.

Kahouch finally got involved in the third quarter, but it wasn’t on offense. He intercepted two Whittier passes, one in his end zone. Finally, he hooked up with quarterback Paul Waldrop when it counted the most. He caught a 71-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the fourth quarter to give Savanna the breathing room it needed to beat Whittier, 20-13, Saturday in the Southern Section Division VI finals at Glover Stadium.

The section title in football was Savanna’s first in the school’s 33-year history.

Kahouch, who spent most of the day in bed with a fever, wasn’t a factor in the first half. From his safety position, Kahouch missed a tackle that allowed Whittier to score its first touchdown. Fullback Greg Ford scored on a 61-yard pass from quarterback Bryan LaVigne after he ran through Kahouch’s tackle at the the 30.

On offense, Kahouch didn’t have much room to breath.

“Every time I came up to the line, linebackers, cornerbacks, everybody was yelling, ‘Kahouch, Kahouch,’ ” he said. “They put like three guys on me.”

Whittier concern with Kahouch left the middle wide open for tight end Scott Bevan, who caught four passes for 54 yards. Savanna didn’t have much luck running the ball either, but the Rebels did manage to tie the score, 7-7, by halftime on a one-yard plunge by fullback Canhuy Nguyen. The score was set up by a 25-yard kickoff return by Mike Flores and a 15-yard reception by Bevan.

The Rebels took a 10-7 lead on a 23-yard Flores field goal that was handed to them when Whittier Fred Salas fumbled the second-half kickoff on his 13.

Kahouch made his first interception on the Cardinals’ next drive. He returned the ball 14 yards to Whittier 46, but the Rebels couldn’t capitalize. Whittier drove 60 yards on its next possession, but got nothing out of it when Kahouch stepped in front of Cardinal receiver James Vasquez in the end zone and picked off the ball.

“This is the CIF championship game,” Kahouch said. “I felt like I had to do something.”

Five plays later, Kahouch did something else. He turned an ordinary screen pass into a 71-yard touchdown play.

“We called a screen, but I signaled to Paul that I wanted to run a fade,” he said. “I had two guys on me, but he threw the ball perfectly. I guess it’s just mental telepathy.”

Waldrop’s floating 15-yard pass was thrown so that only Kahouch could catch. And once Kahouch pulled it down, he outran Whittier secondary to make it 17-7

“This Kahouch, he just does things well,” Savanna Coach Fred DiPalma said. “As the weeks go on, you almost expect him to make those kind of plays.”

The Cardinals scored on a LaVigne five-yard run to make it 17-13 with 6:14 left in the game, but a two-point conversion failed when LaVigne’s pass was knocked down.

Savanna’s running game finally got going on the last drive--producing three first downs and setting up another Flores 23-yard field goal with 44 seconds left.