No-Huddle Offense Too Fast for Tustin

Servite Coach Larry Toner’s game plan was simple, but predictably effective.

His Tustin counterpart, Myron Miller, knew what was coming, but there was little he could do to prevent the Friars’ plan from working.

Using a no-huddle offense, the Friars wore down Tustin in an explosive first half and then hung on to outlast their Golden West League rival, 50-40, in front of about 3,500 fans at Tustin High.

Trailing 16-15, Servite (6-1, 2-0 in league) scored three consecutive touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 35-16 lead that it would never surrender. The Friars extended it to 43-24 at the half, wearing down the Tillers with the combination of running back Vince Reed charging off tackle, quarterback Greg Cicero hitting an open receiver for big yardage and then running up to the line of scrimmage and running another play in rapid-fire mode.

Reed rushed 21 times for 133 yards and a touchdown. Cicero, who completed 10 of 12 passes in the first half, finished with 11 completions in 15 attempts for 249 yards and two touchdowns. He also plunged over from the three-yard line three times for scores.

Tustin, with its multiple-back, double-wing, run-oriented attack, played right into Servite’s hands. After a couple of rush-driven drives in the first half that resulted in scores, Tustin just plain wore down.

“It was a good game plan. They are very, very intelligent,” Miller said. “They made it tough on our defense.

“We lost our cornerback early and we had to use our quarterback there for the first time. Servite wore us down a bit.”

Running backs Justin Lambert, Greg Cavral, DeShaun Foster and Dominque DeGrammont totaled 310 yards for Tustin. Foster scored two touchdowns and had two, two-point conversions. DeGrammont caught five passes for 78 yards and Foster had five for 91.

Toner had not seen much to his liking the last few weeks, he said, particularly after a humiliating 41-7 defeat to top-ranked Mater Dei. So he changed the offense this week because it was a good fit with his personnel, he said. But there was no denying that the no-huddle was also a weapon to tire out the Tillers.

“There was a little bit of an element in that,” he said. “It also helped settle us down. It just fits with our kind of team.”