IRVINE – What was billed as a battle of two of Orange County’s premier quarterbacks became a game dominated by the winning team’s ability to run the football.
What looked like a possible one-sided win by one team turned into a tight victory for the other team.
Crean Lutheran beat Huntington Beach 31-28 on Friday at Crean Lutheran High where the two teams went into the game tied for first place in the Epsilon League.
Crean Lutheran has sole possession of first place in the six-team league. The Saints are 4-0 in league and remain undefeated at 9-0 overall. They clinched at least a share of the league title.
Huntington Beach is 3-1 in league, 7-2 overall.
Huntington Beach concludes the regular season next Friday with a league game against El Dorado at Valencia High. Crean Lutheran plays Laguna Hills in a league and regular-season finale Thursday at Laguna Hills High.
CIF Southern Section playoff brackets will be released the morning of Nov. 2.
Crean Lutheran junior running Caleb Bey rushed for 161 yards and two touchdowns and scored on a reception. Bey rushed for 92 yards in the second half as the Saints offensive linemen took control of the line of scrimmage.
Huntington Beach struck quickly, and in a familiar way – a long touchdown connection from Ohio State-committed junior quarterback Brady Edmunds to Troy Foster. Edmunds fired the ball to Foster over the middle at midfield where Foster shook off two defenders before sprinting to the end zone for a 7-0 lead only 1:17 into the game.
An Edmunds screen pass to Nathan Villanueva was good for a 14-yard touchdown play and a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter. The Oilers stretched their lead to 21-0 on a 42-yard touchdown pass from Edmunds to Foster 16 seconds into the second quarter. Foster got loose deep down the left sideline where Edmunds dropped the ball to Foster perfectly in stride for the score.
Crean scored three touchdowns in the final 7:37 of the second quarter. The Saints’ comeback started with a 7-yard touchdown run by Caleb Bey followed by a 1-yard touchdown run by Dillon Booth.
Crean Lutheran got the ball again, at midfield with 1:57 to go in the half. The Saints tied it on a short screen pass from Caden Jones to Bey who made a slick cutback before reaching the end zone for a 15-yard scoring play with 24 seconds remaining in the half to tie it 21-21.
Crean Lutheran took the second half-opening kickoff, started at its 15-yard line and 15 plays later – 10 of those running plays –Eric Miao kicked a 37-yard field to give the Saints their first lead of the game 24-21. That possession consumed 7 minutes and 5 seconds.
The Saints then ate up another 4:40 on a drive that started toward the end of the third quarter and extended well into the fourth quarter, a drive of 10 plays – nine running plays – that ended with a 5-yard touchdown run by Bey for a 31-21 Crean Lutheran lead with 9:14 left in the game.
Edmunds scored on a 2-yard run with 3:51 left in the game to make it 31-28.
The Saints defense got Edmunds to throw incompletions on his final six passes of the first half.
La Habra won the Epsilon League championship last year with its 5-0 league record. Crean Lutheran was second at 4-1 in league. Huntington Beach was third at 3-2.
Crean Lutheran beat Huntington Beach last season 38-14.
