THE PREPS : Huntington Beach Outlasts Tustin : Football: A pass is the difference in a battle between two teams with strong running games.

On a warm afternoon that featured a hot pair of rushing attacks, it was a simple pass play that preserved a 15-14 victory for Huntington Beach over Tustin at Huntington Beach High.

David VanHoorebeke made a diving catch of a 38-yard pass from quarterback Mershad Javan on third down and 20 from the Oiler 20-yard line with 3 minutes 41 seconds to go. The play extended a drive that began on the Huntington Beach 19, and helped the Oilers run out the clock.

Up until that time the running games--and mistakes by both teams--dominated play.

Tustin quarterback Robbie Caston attempted only one pass, overthrowing his receiver midway through the second quarter. The Tillers relied on a half dozen running backs in Coach Myron Miller’s three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust formula. DeShaun Foster carried 12 times for 97 yards, 66 coming on the first play from scrimmage when he took an inside pitch from Caston, bolted through the Huntington Beach line, and ran untouched into the end zone.

Oiler running back Jason Locklin carried 28 times for 143 yards and a touchdown. On the final drive, which ended with Huntington Beach on the Tustin two-yard line as time expired, Locklin sandwiched eight runs for 22 yards around the catch by VanHoorebeke.

That catch, similar to a 14-yard strike for a score from Javan to VanHoorebeke that put the Oilers on top for good, 12-6, in the second quarter, was on a play that Tustin surrendered often.

“We had that route open all day and a couple of times he overthrew me,” VanHoorebeke said of Javan, who struggled in his debut with only seven completions in 23 attempts. “But I saw the ball all the way and I stretched for it.”

Javan, a senior transfer from Fountain Valley, was subbing for injured starter David Yadrik, who broke his collarbone on the final play of the game last week in a 37-16 loss to Santa Margarita. Javan overthrew several wide open receivers, but he used the big play to finish with 158 yards passing.

“Not a bad start for his first time,” Huntington Beach Coach George Pascoe said.

A 26-yard field goal by Brent Chancellor that just cleared the bar with 4:10 left in the third quarter helped Huntington Beach atone for two muffed point-after attempts. The Oilers fumbled three times and were called for 75 yards in penalties, including a rare double delay of game call in the first half.

Likewise, with the exception of its final touchdown drive that covered 67 yards in 19 plays, Tustin was less than sharp. The Tillers were penalized three times in key situations, each killing a drive, or extending an Oiler drive.

“We’re not disciplined enough,” Miller said. “We’re not concentrating on what we are supposed to do.”