PREP EXTRA / SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS : DIVISION VII : Sunny Hills’ Defense Totally Shuts Down Garden Grove

Sunny Hills’ smothering defense limited Garden Grove to 26 net yards and two first downs, one on a penalty, as the Lancers blanked the Argonauts, 12-0, in the opening round of the Southern Section Division VII playoffs Friday night.

The Argonauts, who will play Lompoc next week, never crossed midfield as the Lancers completely dominated the game. Garden Grove (4-7) was held to minus-five yards in the second half.

Garden Grove had its best field possession on the opening kickoff return by Ruben Reyna to the Argonauts’ 45, but three successive penalties, totaling 20 yards, started a long night for the offense. Reyna’s 10-yard run on the third Garden Grove drive produced Garden Grove’s only non-penalty first down of the game.

Sunny Hills’ quarterback Greg Garand injured his ankle at the end of the second drive. Senior Scott Warkentin replaced Garand and generated a 73-yard scoring drive for the Lancers late in the first half. Chris Velotta scored from the one, but the extra point failed and Sunny Hills took a 6-0 lead with 22 seconds left in the second quarter.

Sunny Hills (5-6) recovered two fumbled punts to maintain ball control for most of the second half but could not put the game away until Garand, returning in the fourth quarter, scored on a fourth-down plunge with 4:09 left in the game, concluding a 28-yard drive. Daniel Amosa broke up the two-point conversion pass to preserve the 12-0 margin.

With Garand missing more than half the game, Velotta was called on to carry the ball 26 times, gaining 97 yards. The Lancers have won four of their last five games.