Brea Wins, 55-23, Stays Unbeaten

Kenny Washington overcame some early mistakes to score three touchdowns, helping unbeaten Brea Olinda break a tie and roll to a 55-23 nonleague victory over visiting Rancho Alamitos Friday night.

Washington, an explosive runner who came in averaging 11.8 yards a carry, lost two fumbles early in the game, setting up touchdown passes by Daniel Green of Rancho Alamitos of 56 yards to Tony Larzon and 60 yards to Matt Hildreth. Those two scores, in a 62-second span, tied it 14-14 with 7:41 left in the second quarter.

But Washington recovered teammate Manny Gutierrez’s fumble on a kickoff return, then kick-started the Brea offense.

Washington scored on a one-yard run and returned a punt 53 yards for a touchdown as the Wildcats took a 27-14 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, he scored his 12th touchdown of the season on a 13-yard run.

Maurice Garcia of Rancho Alamitos, who entered the game as the county’s leading receiver with 29 receptions, added 10 more against Brea, including a fourth-quarter touchdown of 10 yards.

Nick Stagnaro intercepted two passes for Brea, giving him five for the season.

Brea Olinda (5-0) scored the only first-quarter touchdown, a 34-yard run by Dustin Sweeter. The Wildcats increased their lead to 14-0 on the first play of the second quarter on a 10-yard run by Ryan Fortner before Rancho Alamitos bounced back.

Washington finished with eight carries for 83 yards, dropping his season average to 11.6 yards per carry.

Brea had three touchdowns disallowed by penalties, but eventually scored on all three drives.