Taft Shows Off Big-Play Offense

This just wasn’t Kennedy High’s night to break Taft’s 17-game Northwest Valley Conference winning streak, not when Toreador quarterback Brandon Hance can throw deep into triple coverage and come away with six points.

Hance’s 33-yard touchdown pass to Ronald Andrews was only one of many big plays as Taft scored four first-half touchdowns and cruised to a 42-0 victory Friday night over the Golden Cougars at Taft High.

Kennedy (4-2, 2-1) came into the game with aspirations of handing Taft its first conference loss since 1995, but those thoughts quickly vanished.

Marquis Brignac broke off a 38-yard run on the Toreadors’ second play from scrimmage--a drive that ultimately led to a three-yard sneak for a touchdown by Hance. Then Brignac raced untouched for a 70-yard scoring run a few minutes later.

Brignac had 124 yards in the first quarter and finished with 192 in 20 carries and scored three touchdowns. But the senior tailback didn’t limit his contributions to offense.

Down 14-0, Kennedy finally drove deep into Taft territory, but Brignac picked up a fumble by Jason Jones at the Taft four and returned it 76 yards.

The Toreadors missed a field goal on the possession, but the damage was done. Kennedy didn’t seriously threaten again as Taft (5-1, 3-0) posted its third shutout in four games.

“This is about as bad as it gets,” Kennedy Coach Bob Francola said.

And it couldn’t get any better for the Golden Cougars.

Punter Matt Garnas couldn’t handle a snap and the ball was recovered in the end zone by Chris Morgan, giving Taft a 21-0 lead.

Kennedy quarterback Ruben Zaragoza, who had a streak earlier this season of 127 passes without having an interception, had two picked off in three attempts. One was returned 32 yards by Andrews, who then caught the perfect throw from Hance.

Hance completed 10 of 15 for 168 yards before leaving with the rest of the first-team offense midway through the fourth quarter. Andrews had five receptions for 108 yards.

Zaragoza completed 13 of 31 for 112 yards.