Chaminade About-Face Keys Rally in 38-10 Win

The same thing that had Chaminade High nervous in the first half enabled the Eagles to stage a second-half comeback and defeat El Camino Real, 38-10, in a nonleague game Friday night at Chaminade High.

That thing was turnovers.

The Eagles used two interceptions by Jason Zdenek to spark a rally from a 10-7 halftime deficit and break the game open.

“I owed those interceptions to my team,” said Zdenek, who as a quarterback threw two interceptions that led to El Camino Real scores. “I thought I needed to do something to change the attitude of the team.”

Zdenek said the Eagles came out flat. On the first play of the game, he threw over the middle right into the hands of El Camino Real defensive back Krys Fields at the Chaminade 12. Three plays later, Quincy Wright scored on a seven-yard touchdown run.

Said Chaminade Coach Rich Lawson: “We were playing fat and overconfident.”

Lawson didn’t remember what he told his team at halftime, but whatever it was, it worked. In the second half, the Eagles (2-0) scored on every possession, all of which started in El Camino Real (0-1-1) territory.

On their first drive of the second half, the Eagles marched 45 yards to take the lead for good, 14-10. On the next play from scrimmage, Zdenek picked off a Shaun Fishman pass and ran 45 yards for a touchdown.

Jason Giovannettone, who rushed for 100 yards, added two one-yard touchdown runs.