Buena Park Stuffs Orange

Rudy Padilla’s 78-yard, two-touchdown performance helped Buena Park roll past Orange, 27-0, Friday night at El Modena High.

Neither team demonstrated the ability to move the ball effectively downfield on offense, but Buena Park’s swarming defense became the star of the game. It held Orange (0-2) to 165 yards of total offense and recovered three fumbles.

Joey Alatorre had two interceptions and Moses Delgado and Travis Heathington one each.

Gonzalo Mesa and Heathington each recorded two sacks and Robert Cisneros chipped in one. Mesa also blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety halfway through the fourth quarter.

After Orange running back Jeremy Poole went down with an injury during the Panthers’ opening drive, Orange was unable to move the ball beyond midfield for the duration of the half.

Orange starting quarterback Joe Perez completed five of his first six passes, but two of them went to Buena Park defenders, enabling the Coyotes (1-1) to focus their attention on stopping the run, which they did, allowing only 101 yards in 37 carries.

Looking for any sort of offense, Toby Law, who had been effectively returning the ball on special teams throughout the game, took three snaps at quarterback, resulting in minus-one yard of offense and a punt that ended up a safety.

Trailing 21-0 on its own 20-yard line with :01 left in the game, Orange decided against taking a knee or merely running out the clock. Instead, the Panthers called timeout to set up one final play.

The pass was intercepted by Heathington and returned 40 yards for a touchdown.