Posted by Irvine Sign Company
Posted by Irvine Business Sign Company
IRVINE – Laguna Beach coach John Shanahan knows what it takes to get his team deep into the playoffs.
Shanahan is going back to the CIF-SS semifinals for the second time in his three-year tenure at Laguna Beach after the Breakers beat Northwood 34-13 Friday night at Irvine High in the quarterfinals of the Division 12 playoffs.
“Laguna Beach is a one-school town,” an excited Shanahan said. “I live in the Laguna community. … We’re trying to bring energy and football back to Laguna Beach.”
Laguna Beach quarterback Andrew Johnson brought energy throughout the contest. The junior threw for 315 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Breakers offense.
“This is his (Johnson) first season starting for us at the varsity level,” Shanahan said. “He’s a kid that didn’t play a lot of football growing up, but he does a lot of really good things for us.”
Laguna Beach’s Sean Nolan talks about his big night in the Breakers 34-13 win over Northwood. @ocvarsity @LBHSBreakers pic.twitter.com/VcuuC7html
— Tony Serna Arduino (@TonySerna15) November 10, 2018
Laguna Beach wide receiver Sean Nolan was the beneficiary of Johnson’s big night as the senior hauled in five passes for 151 yards and three TDs.
“I knew I needed to have a big night,” Nolan said with his left arm in a sling. “We knew Northwood had beat some good teams this year.”
With his five receptions, Nolan now holds the career pass receptions record at Laguna Beach with 155. Last week, Nolan broke the single-season reception record with his 65th catch of the year.
“Sean is a special athlete,” Shanahan said. “A great football player, a great rugby player and an incredible kid.”
Laguna Beach will be at Artesia (9-3) on Friday, Nov. 16 in the semifinals.
Both teams got off to shaky starts Friday as they each turned the ball over three times in the first half.
After a fumble recovery by Laguna Beach (10-2) on Northwood’s second possession of the game, the Breakers’ drive looked to stall when the Timberwolves’ Max Tait sacked Johnson setting up a third-and-21.
Johnson then found Raul Villalobos up the sideline for a 34-yard catch-and-run. Two plays later, Johnson hooked up with Nolan for a TD, his first of three on the night, from 8 yards out that gave the Breakers an early 7-0 lead.
After both teams exchanged interceptions, Shane Lythgoe for Laguna and Josiah Smith for Northwood, Northwood quarterback Jaden Piazza threw a screen pass to Daniel Kim for 49 yards. Kim punched it in from the 1 and tied the score at 7-7 with 6:15 to go in the half.
Laguna’s Kai Ball then picked off a Piazza pass that floated over the middle of the field with 1:26 left in the half.
On the ensuing play, Nolan got behind the Northwood defense and caught a Johnson pass in stride and sprinted 63 yards for the score. A missed PAT gave the Breakers a 13-7 lead at the intermission.
With five minutes left in the third quarter, Shanahan made his most important call of the night. On fourth-and-10 from the Timberwolves 40, Shanahan brought on his punt team in a six-point game.
Northwood proceeded to jump offsides and Shanahan responded by taking his punt team off the field and bringing back his offense. Johnson then connected with Nolan for a 35-yard TD to extend the Laguna lead to 20-7.
“I had an interesting conversation with our principal a few weeks ago,” Shanahan said. “He said high school football coaches should take more chances. … That kind of stuck with me and that aggressiveness helped us tonight in that situation.”
Lythgoe added a 2-yard TD run late in the third and Kai Ball caught a 34-yard TD pass to round out the scoring for the Breakers.
Tanner Buck, who replaced Piazza at quarterback in the fourth, threw an 11-yard TD pass to Travis Arena in the fourth quarter that made it 34-13.
Piazza finished 11 of 23 for 203 yards and Arena ended with six catches for 105 yards for Northwood (8-4).
“What we’ve been doing is perfect,” Nolan said when asked what his team needed to do to keep the playoff momentum going. “As long as we stay focused, I think we will be alright.”
[Read More ...]
Posted by Irvine Sign Maker
For Free Sign Estimate Visit: Lighted Channel Letters Irvine ca
Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5
No comments:
Post a Comment