Oilers dominant in season opener
Clicking on all cylinders in a wild, first 24 minutes, the Huntington Beach Oilers ushered in the prep football season with high-scoring success.
Huntington spotted Los Angeles West Adams Prep a quick lead but then pounced on the Panthers and put away the visitors by the halftime gun. The Oilers did all of their scoring — which came from both sides of the ball, in the opening half and came away with a 57-14 victory at Sheue Field.
“It was a pretty good way to start,” Huntington Coach Eric Lo said. “We scored a bunch of points, and our defense and special teams played really well.”
Other than giving up a touchdown on the second play from scrimmage, it was a good way for the Oilers to start. Their star running back, senior Hunter Simmons, ran at will and scored via the run and pass. Quarterback Kobee Lagarde, threw four touchdown passes, his first two scoring strikes came on his first two attempts and went to senior receiver John Davis. The Oilers defense also got into the act and scored twice on fumble recoveries in the end zone and once on a blocked punt.
All of the damage was done with still 2:15 remaining on the first-half clock.
The game went to a running clock in the second half.
“I thought we regrouped and responded really well after their first score,” Lo said of West Adam Prep taking an 8-0 lead just 55 seconds into the game. “It was frustrating, because it shouldn’t have happened.
“We started off slow and in first games, you’re bound to miss assignments and make some mistakes. After that score, I thought our defense played really well.”
West Adams Prep, which went 7-4 last year, took the opening kickoff. After running back Shawn Prejean gained four yards on a first-down run, he got the call on the next play, found a hole at the line of scrimmage, went down the left-sideline and outraced several Oilers to the end zone. His 76-yard TD run and a two-point conversion pass from quarterback Frajai Bryant to Jose Parada gave the Panthers their only lead.
Huntington, which was 3-7 last year, wasted little time in retaliating. The Oilers answered with their own two-play series, with Simmons rushing for 36 yards on his first carry and then finished the quick drive with a 32-yard scoring run on his second touch. Fletcher Wilson’s conversion brought the Oilers within 8-7 only 29 seconds after Prejean’s score.
It went downhill from there for the Panthers.
On West Adam’s next possession, Huntington junior defensive end Derrick Thomas recovered a fumble at the Panthers 27-yard line. It set up a 27-yard touchdown pass from Lagarde to Davis, and Thomas’ point-after kick gave the Oilers the lead for good, 14-8, with 8:30 left in the quarter.
Thomas had a game he won’t forget. On West Adam’s next series, he recovered a muffed snap in the end zone for a touchdown for a 22-8 lead. The Oilers recovered an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff at the West Adams 47 and following two runs by Simmons that took the ball down to the 26, Lagarde and Davis hooked up a second time for six.
Lagarde threaded a nice pass to a wide-open Davis at the four and he headed untouched to the end zone. It was now 29-6.
Huntington, however, wasn’t finished for the quarter. A fumble recovery in the end zone by senior defensive back Phillip Pinto with 58 seconds left took the lead to 36-8.
It was much of the same in the second quarter for the Oilers. Thomas came up with his third fumble recovery of the half which thwarted a West Adams march deep into Huntington territory. The Oilers, taking over at their own 32 with 8:56 to play in the half, would score again when Lagarde hit Simmons out of the backfield and the all-league back turned the short pass into a 37-yard touchdown.
With 4:31 to go until halftime, a punt by the Panthers went off the helmet of Huntington junior Jake Adams. The ball rolled into the end zone where senior Mitchel Anderson recovered for the third defensive touchdown of the game. The score gave the Oilers an even 50 points and a 50-8 lead.
A little more than two minutes later, the scoring in the half came to a close when Lagarde hit senior tight end Nick Crabtree, a Boise St. commit, over the top for an 18-yard touchdown pass with 2:15 left in the half.
By halftime, Simmons had rushed for 109 yards on only seven carries, and Lagarde threw for 124. Both sat out the second half.
Prejean, who started the scoring, also ended it on a seven-yard run with 6:08 remaining.
“We controlled field positing and we did a nice job, overall, and that was exciting to see,” Lo said. “But, we had too many penalties, and that’s something we will work on.”
Huntington travels next week for its second game, a Sept. 4 matchup at San Clemente. The Tritons, runner-up to the CIF Southern Section Southwestern Division title last year, entered the 2015 season with a preseason No. 1 ranking in the division. They lost their opener Friday, 34-20, to San Juan Hills.
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•In other season openers for local teams Friday: In a game between teams ranked preseason in the CIF Southern Section West Valley Division, ninth-ranked Edison fell, 35-16, at No. 5 Tesoro. Fountain Valley lost, 45-7, to Servite (No. 10, PAC-5 Division) at Cerritos College. Marina went to Aliso Niguel and dropped a 40-21 game to the Wolverines. Brethren Christian, No. 8 preseason in the East Valley Division, rolled to a 62-0 victory over visiting Riverside Prep at Ocean View High.
Sept. 4 Prep Football Schedule (7 p.m.)
Buena Park vs. Edison (Huntington Beach High)
Fountain Valley at Long Beach Wilson
Huntington Beach at San Clemente
Marina at Ocean View
Brethren Christian at Boron
