The weekend’s area high school football games began pretty much as expected in terms of which teams won, but the interesting part is how it was accomplished.
La Mirada 35, California 20: The Matadores’ passing and running was so efficient it almost looked methodical. Quarterback Daniel Poncedeleon only went deep once (incomplete), relying instead on short, quick throws to wide open receivers. Even the 80-yard scoring play was a short sideline pass that rerceiver Julian Matta, with the help of some poor tackling, turned into the big gainer. And effective game plan combined running backs Max Gama (17-63) and Matt Haltom (11-55) with Poncedeleon (16 for 20 for183 yards) and no interceptions. California’s opening drive (11 plays, 81 yards) was impressive, but the Condors didn’t put anything together effectively again until the final minutes when backup quarterback Adam Contreras completed four of five passes to move the Condors 65 yards in 39 seconds for their final touchdown, the score coming on a 35-yard pass to Ben Siepak with 27 seconds to play.

La Habra 37 South Hills 10: Host Highlanders were up 17-10 at halftime, then wore the Huskies down as Josh Quezada rushed for 185 yards and four touchdowns to offset three interceptions thrown by quarterback Cody Clements.