ORANGE COUNTY / PREP FOOTBALL : El Dorado Is Good Enough to Win : Football: Golden Hawks aren’t flawless in opener, but Zehner is impressive with 164 yards and four touchdowns in 27-12 victory over Canyon.

El Dorado High’s 27-12 victory over Canyon was far from perfect, but there were still plenty of bright spots for the Golden Hawks in their season opener Friday night at Valencia High.

Senior running back Nick Zehner scored four touchdowns--one more than he had all last season--and rushed for 164 yards in 18 carries.

Zehner and the Golden Hawks’ running game flourished, producing 239 yards behind an offensive line led by returning starters Macky Bluth, Eric Rarey and Brad Roberts.

On defense, El Dorado linebacker Jeff Mathison had two sacks and Danny Pierro and Erik Aguilar each had an interception for a unit that did not allow a touchdown. El Dorado limited Canyon to 20 yards in the second half.

About the only thing special in the debut for Canyon’s first-year coach, Matt McCain, was the play of his special teams, which accounted for all 12 points and even converted on a fourth-down fake punt, when Rob Milligan took a short snap and passed 14 yards to Travis Tolly in the first quarter.

Canyon’s Ben Stuelke returned a blocked punt eight yards for a touchdown to pull Canyon within 20-12 with 1 1/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

But El Dorado responded with a nine-play, 80-yard scoring drive, highlighted by a 32-yard pass play from Brian Zurhellen to Zehner and capped by Zehner’s fourth touchdown, a two-yard run with 8:59 remaining to make the score 27-12.

Canyon started the game impressively with junior Gerald Harvey returning the opening kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown.

“That just deflates you,” El Dorado Coach Rick Jones said. “Our guys just battled back. But it was a little sloppy.”

So was Canyon’s offense.

Playing without Ryan Welch, one of the team’s best offensive lineman, who was sidelined with a knee injury, Canyon managed only 50 yards rushing in 26 carries. Forty-three of those yards came on one run by Harvey.