PREP EXTRA / FRIDAY FOOTBALL PULLOUT : FREEWAY LEAGUE : Sunny Hills Leaves Sonora to Luck

Sonora had an opportunity to win its first league title since 1973, but the Raiders lost to Sunny Hills, 17-7, Thursday night at La Habra High.

Sonora (5-5 overall, 3-2 in league) was the only Freeway League team that could have won the title outright with a victory this week, but will have to settle for a share of the title and rely on a coin flip to determine its playoff future. The Raiders, who won the Orange League championship in ‘73, reached the playoffs last year on a coin flip.

“We lost our destiny,” Sonora Coach Mark Takkinen said. “Now we’ll have to hope for the luck of the draw.”

Just before the end of the half, Sunny Hills (4-6, 3-2) got on the board with a 37-yard field goal by Nick Walton to lead, 3-0.

Early in the second half, the Raiders’ Mark Gonzalez intercepted a pass and returned it to the Sunny Hills 27-yard line. On the next play, Shawn Brass skirted the left side and raced down the sideline for a touchdown and a 7-3 Sonora lead.

Late in the third quarter, Jeff Renaud leaped to catch a Greg Garand pass in the middle of the field and outran the defense to give the Lancers the lead for good, 10-7. Garand added a 20-yard touchdown run with 2:17 left in the game after the Raiders turned the ball over on a fake punt.

“Offensively, I was real pleased with the way our kids were able to control the clock in key situations and pick up key first downs,” Sunny Hills Coach Tim Devaney said. “We haven’t been able to do that all year.”