ORANGE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL / PREP EXTRA : Fullerton Pulls Together in Second Half, Beats La Habra

Fullerton didn’t play up to Coach Julian Smilowitz’s standards in the first half, but the Indians more than met them in the second half.

Two touchdowns by running back John Wilkie and two scoring passes by quarterback Gabriel Almanza led host Fullerton to a 35-6 Freeway League victory over La Habra in front of 2,500 Friday night.

The victory clinched a share of the league title for Fullerton (8-1, 4-0), which can win it outright by beating Sonora Thursday night.

“We’ve reached one of our goals,” Smilowitz said. “Hopefully we can achieve the other part of it next week.

“I wasn’t pleased with our play in the first half, but in the second half we played Fullerton football.”

Fullerton, which won its fourth in a row, led La Habra, 10-6, at halftime before a 33-yard touchdown run by Wilkie gave the Indians a 16-6 lead with 8 minutes 43 seconds left in the third quarter. Wilkie, who finished with 148 yards rushing in 16 carries, added a scoring run midway through the fourth quarter.

Almanza, who completed nine of 12 passes for 137 yards, connected with Michael Garner for two touchdown passes of 35 and 23 yards.

On defense, Fullerton’s Tyler Brickell recorded three sacks.

The loss dropped La Habra to 3-6 overall, 1-3 in league.