PREP FOOTBALL / Saturday Pullout : McGraw Runs Into Record Book

Laguna Hills assistant Marty Spalding has seen his share of outstanding linemen come and go during the three decades he has coached football in south Orange County.

But it has been 13 years since he has watched a tailback run like Brendan McGraw.

On Friday night at La Habra High, McGraw ran for 277 yards in 27 carries and tied a county record with six rushing touchdowns as the Hawks defeated Sonora 48-26 in a nonleague game.

“I used to say (former El Toro running back) Damon Sweazy was the best I’ve ever been around, but Brendan McGraw is the best running back talent I’ve seen,” Spalding said.

McGraw was equally complimentary about the linemen in front of him.

“If the linemen keep blocking like this, we’re going to have a great year,” McGraw said.

The game got off to a bad start for the Hawks (1-0) when Sonora scored on its opening play of the game, as Kevin Rodriguez hit tight end Mark Gonzalez for an 80-yard touchdown pass play.

The first offensive play for Laguna Hills was not any better when starting left tackle Manual Rocha was lost for the game with an ankle injury.

However, from there the game belonged to McGraw and the offensive line, as the 6-foot-1 senior scored on runs of 22, 51 and 61 yards in the first quarter.

The Raiders cut the lead to 21-14 at the half when Albert Lopez dove over from a yard out, but McGraw scored on a 27-yard burst to open the third quarter and added another short touchdown run later in the quarter for a 35-14 lead.

McGraw’s record-tying touchdown came with 5:27 left in the game on a four-yard run up the middle. The record is held by four players, most recently Costa Mesa’s Binh Tran, who scored six touchdowns against Calvary Chapel in 1992.