Laguna Hills Sends Message With an Impressive Victory

Dustin Mang didn’t give his teammates a chance to think about another first-round loss. He ran back the opening kickoff 87 yards, putting Laguna Hills ahead and wiping last year’s painful loss to Pacifica out of everyone’s minds.

From there, it was easy. Laguna Hills manhandled a small, listless and mistake-prone Lakewood Artesia team and advanced to the second round of the Southern Section Division VIII playoffs with a 56-7 victory Friday night.

“That just set the tone of the game right there,” Laguna Hills quarterback Tommy Banning said of Mang’s run. “That set us on fire.”

The fourth-seeded Hawks (10-1) will get a rematch with Pacifica (7-2-1), a 17-13 upset winner over Sunny Hills.

“It’s on them now,” Laguna Hills tight end Sai Makakaufaki said. Laguna Hills (10-1) led 21-0 after a quarter and 28-0 at halftime. Michael Jones, the county’s all-time leading rusher, wasn’t spectacular, but he didn’t need to be. Jones ran 27 times for 140 yards and two touchdowns. His second score, a one-yard plunge, came with Laguna Hills leading, 42-7, early in the fourth quarter.

Banning gave Pacifica and the rest of Division VIII something to think about as he threw three touchdown passes, giving him 17 on the season. He hit tight end Ryan Johnson with his first scoring pass, a 29-yarder off a naked bootleg, to give Laguna Hills a 21-0 margin.

“We have more diversification this year,” said Banning, who was four of 11 for 100 yards. “It’s not all 11 guys staring at Mike wondering if he’s going to run left or right. We’ve shown we can pass.”

Banning’s other two scoring passes went to Makakaufaki on plays of nine and 47 yards.

“Everybody knows we have Mike, but it used to be if they stopped the run, they beat us,” Makakaufaki said. “Michael Jones is a great player, but he can’t do it all. Now we know if don’t complete some passes we’re not going to win.”

Artesia (5-6), which finished in a three-way tie in the Suburban League, never presented a challenge to Laguna Hills. The Pioneers needed one or both of their famous alumni, the O’Bannon brothers, to even give Laguna Hills a competitive game. Artesia turned the ball over seven times--three interceptions and four fumbles. It also had 11 penalties, six on the first nine plays from scrimmage, and gained only 25 yards on the ground in 24 carries.

“They had a lot of penalties and a lot of cheap shots,” Banning said.

About the only thing Laguna Hills could be criticized for was carelessness.

The Hawks turned the ball over four times. Banning was intercepted twice, Jones fumbled once and Jeff Fischer fumbled a punt return, though he later atoned for that miscue by picking up a fumble and going 80 yards for a touchdown.