Laguna Hills Victorious in Final Tune-Up

Despite committing five turnovers, Laguna Hills High defeated Riverside Poly, 24-0, in a nonleague game Friday at UC Riverside.

The Hawks held Riverside Poly to 158 yards--only 37 in the second half. Brandon Champlin paced the Hawks’ offense, completing eight of 19 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns.

Laguna Hills (3-2) opens Sea View League play next week against defending Southern Section Division VI champion Woodbridge.

“Our defense played very aggressively and turned a lot of our negatives into positives,” Laguna Hills Coach Bruce Ingalls said. “Facing Woodbridge will be no easy task.”

Champlin connected on a 65-yard touchdown pass to Dan Kempfs with 2:18 remaining in the first quarter to give Laguna Hills all the points it would need.

With less than three minutes remaining in the half, Champlin found Jay Dale for a 56-yard touchdown pass play.

The Hawks increased their lead to 21-0 when Ajay Allen intercepted a pass and returned it 67 yards for a touchdown with 1:17 remaining in the quarter.

The closest the Bears (1-4) came to scoring were two missed field goal attempts by Mark Baltiaga. Each kick hit the upright.