Loara Gets the Jump on Western

ANAHEIM — Loara spoiled the debut of Coach Toby Howell, piling up 425 yards of offense on the way to a 24-7 victory over Western in a nonleague game at Glover Stadium Friday.

In his first game after replacing his father, Jim, who coached at Western for 17 seasons, Toby Howell watched Loara’s Archie Lappin complete 12 of 23 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns, and John Duhon rush for 127 yards and a touchdown in 18 carries.

Loara’s defense also caused problems for Western. Loara recovered two Western fumbles, sacked Western quarterback Jimmy Conway four times and limited the Pioneers to two first downs in the first half.

Although Loara appeared to dominate, Western was not out of range until Lappin tossed a seven-yard touchdown pass to Greg deFries with 8 minutes 49 seconds remaining to make it 24-7.

Western kept the score close with big plays.

After Duhon scored on an 11-yard touchdown run with 6:33 remaining in the first quarter, Western’s Tremayne Robertson broke through Loara’s defense for a 67-yard touchdown run to tie it, 7-7.

But the rest of Western’s offense managed only 33 yards rushing and no yards passing by halftime.

Western’s sputtering offense was further hampered when Robertson was ejected with 4:47 remaining in the second quarter.

Western’s Robertson and Juan Baltazar were ejected with Loara’s Vince Vaccaro after a brief altercation following Anthony Ortiz’s interception and return of an errant Lappin pass.

Although Loara managed to move the ball well against Western, it could manage only another field goal before halftime to take the lead, 10-7.

In the third quarter, Loara widened the lead when Nathan Robbins caught a pass from Lappin over the middle, then broke two tackles before racing 77 yards for a touchdown to make it, 17-7, with 9:24 remaining in the period.

Western tried to answer, moving 70 yards in 5 1/2 minutes behind the running of Sergio Garcia (51 yards in 12 carries) and sophomore Trevell Jackson, (48 yards in six carries).

But Loara’s defense stiffened and stopped Western on a fourth-and-inches from the two.