Sports Shorts: Dana Hills Looks to Bounce Back Against Mission Hills

It's hard to put a finger on this year's Dana Hills football team, which continues its season with a home game against Mission Hills of San Diego County on Friday at 7 p.m.

The Dolphins (1-2) didn't open their season well, losing 54-17 at Santiago High of Corona, but came back the next week to keep San Juan Hills winless with . But that was followed by a 34-13 loss to Sunset League power Edison, despite trailing by only six points at halftime.

Despite its big and strong offensive line, the Dolphins couldn't get their ground game going against Edison, rushing for a total of only 61 yards, which is exactly what junior Marcus Hughes totaled in 13 carries. Senior quarterback Shane Scambray completed 26 of 44 passes for 231 yards, but his longest completion was only 21 yards and his only touchdown -- a 13-yard pass to Hunter Briggs, who had eight receptions for 73 yards -- was the last score of the game.

Under first-year coach Todd Rusinkovich, Dana Hills needs to hang onto the ball to have a chance against Mission Hills. The Dolphins have fumbled seven times in three games and have lost the ball five times. The good news is that all of those turnovers came against Santiago, so maybe they can be chalked up to first-game jitters.

Mission Hils may be winless, but the Grizzlies opened their season with a 27-0 loss to St. John Bosco, the Trinity League power that is ranked third in the .

The Avocado League preseason favorite, Mission Hills lost its second game at Mt. Carmel, 20-14, when a 54-yard hook-and-ladder touchdown pitch from Grizzlies receiver Devin Holiday to running back Adam Renteria was instead called a forward pass by game officials, who ruled the play dead.

Renteria, a senior, carried 17 times for a game-high 127 yards, including a three-yard touchdown, as Mission Hills attempted to come back from a 20-7 halftime deficit.

In last season's game against Dana Hills, Renteria rushed for 185 yards, including a three-yard score in the second overtime to lift Mission Hills to a 48-42 victory. The Grizzlies rallied from a 21-point second-half deficit to tie the score at 35-35 in regulation.

WOLVERINES FACE STIFF COMPETITION ON FRIDAY

Early season records can be very deceiving, but if Aliso Niguel High's football team can improve to 4-0 with a victory over visiting Huntington Beach on Friday night, that will be a shot heard across the campus of every other school in the Sea View League.

The Wolverines’ three victories this season -- enough to convince the voters to include them in the this week at No. 10 -- have come over teams whose combined record is 1-7. On the other hand, Huntington Beach has defeated Sea View League-favorite El Toro, 23-21, in the season's opening week, lost the next week to undefeated Corona del Mar, 28-21, then defeated Foothill, 32-13.

The Oilers have amassed about twice as much passing yardage as they have rushing, thanks to senior quarterback Michael Chislock. People are saying Huntington Beach could realistically expect to challenge for a playoff spot out of the typically rugged Sunset League, but that will only happen if the Oilers can win at least three games against Los Alamitos, Edison, Newport Harbor, Fountain Valley or Marina.

Aliso Niguel senior quarterback Nick Carducci has thrown for five touchdowns and has had only one pass intercepted. The Wolverines depend on sophomore Ryan Walker and senior Kyle Paris to move the ball on the ground, but that may not be enough against the Oilers, who won last year’s game, 44-3. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

ALISO NIGUEL RUNNERS EXCEL AT CROSS-COUNTRY COUNTY CLASSIC

Aliso Niguel High runners competed in the Cross Country Classic Friday and Saturday at Estancia High. The 31st annual meet was co-hosted by Woodbridge, Estancia, and Costa Mesa high schools and the Newport-Irvine Rotary Club, and was sponsored by Puma.

Here are results of races in which the Wolverines scored among the top 10:

DIVISION 1

Senior Boys Individuals -- 1. Fisk (Tesoro) 14:52; 2. Salas (Redlands) 14:56; 3. Duncan (Crescenta Valley) 14:57; 4 Rodriguez (El Rancho) 14:57; 5. Alwafai (Aliso Niguel) 15:00; 6. Williams (Aliso Niguel) 15:02; 7. Dougherty (La Quinta) 15:19; 8. De La Rosa (Arcadia) 15:20; 9. Orosco (Buchanan) 15:26; 10. Robles (Colton) 15:27

Senior Boys Team Scores -- 1. Rocklin 122; 2. Crescenta Valley 140; 3. El Toro 158; 4. Arcadia 175; 5. Green Valley/Las Vegas) 207; 6. Desert Vista/Arizona 235; 7. Aliso Niguel 253; 8. Murrieta Valley 264; 9. Great Oak 273; 10. Shadow Ridge 281

Junior Boys Team Scores -- 1. El Rancho 86; 2. Arcadia 109; 3. Tesoro 117; 4. Aliso Niguel 152; 5. Great Oak 164; 6. Desert Vista/Arizona 216; 7. El Toro 239; 8. West Ranch 242; 9. Trabuco Hills 263; 10. Ayala 277

Freshman Boys Individuals -- 1. Gonzalez (Warren) 15:58; 2. Rodriguez (Warren) 15:59; 3. Kaufman (Hart) 16:03; 4. Rubira (Hart) 16:08; 5. Tapia (Great Oak) 16:18; 6. Voth (Buchanan) 16:34; 7. Kushen (Tesoro) 16:39; 8. Jacobs (Aliso Niguel) 16:47; 9. Liebman (Hart) 16:49; 10. Arvizu (Great Oak) 16:56

For complete results in all divisions, click here.

We’re a little late with this one, but for complete results of the Sept. 10 Laguna Hills Invitational, click here.

Coming up on Saturday are the Dana Hills Nike Invitational as well as the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto.

WOLVERINES ADVANCE TO VOLLEYBALL SEMIFINALS

Aliso Niguel’s girls volleyball team advanced to the semifinals of the Silver Division of the Aloha Classic Saturday at Capistrano Valley High.

San Juan Hills also reached the semifinals of the Silver Division, which was won by Campbell Hall of North Hollywood.

Yucaipa defeated Chino Hills, 19-25, 28-26, 15-7 to win the Gold Division title.

Mission Viejo and Tesoro both advanced to the semifinals, before losing. The Diablos lost to Chino Hills, 25-20, 25-19 and the Titans fell to Yucaipa (15-25, 25-23, 17-15.

Speaking of volleyball, here are the pool assignments and schedule for pool play for the Divisions 1 and 2 brackets of the Dave Mohs O.C. Championships, which begin play at 3 p.m. Friday and resume at 8 a.m. Saturday.

Friday's pool schedule: 1 vs. 3; 2 vs. 4; 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3. On Saturday, it's 3 vs. 4 and 1 vs. 2. Afterward, the top two teams advance to the playoffs Saturday afternoon at Edison High.

The Division 1 final is Monday at 7:30 p.m., and it's preceded by the Division 2 final at 6 p.m. Both games are at Edison High.

DIVISION 1

Pool 1 at Edison -- 1. Los Alamitos; 2. Rosary; 3. Mission Viejo; 4. Los Osos.

Pool 2 at Corona del Mar -- 1. Corona del Mar; 2. El Dorado; 3. Tesoro; 4. West Ranch.

Pool 3 at Edison -- 1. Ediso; 2. Poly/Long Beach; 3. Bakersfield; 4. University/Irvine.

Pool 4 at Marina -- 1. Mater Dei; 2. San Clemente; 3. Marina; 4. Beckman.

Pool 5 at Newport Harbor -- 1. Newport Harbor; 2. Harvard-Westlake; 3. Capistrano Valley; 4. Chaparral.

Pool 6 at Newport Harbor -- 1. Laguna Beach; 2. Orange Lutheran; 3. Centennial/Corona; 4. Murrieta Valley.

Pool 7 at Edison -- 1. Santa Margarita; 2. Palos Verdes; 3. Wilson/Long Beach; 4. Upland.

Pool 8 at Huntington Beach -- 1. Huntington Beach; 2. Yucaipa; 3. Dana Hills; 4. Carson.

DIVISION 2

Pool 1 at Huntington Beach -- 1. Notre Dame; 2. Garces Memorial; 3. La Habra; 4. Estancia.

Pool 2 at Costa Mesa -- 1. Francis Parker; 2. Villa Park; 3. Calvary Chapel/Santa Ana; 4. Norco.

Pool 3 at Fountain Valley -- 1. Temecula Valley; 2. San Juan Hills; 3. R.E. Mountain; 4. El Modena.

Pool 4 at Marina -- 1. Trabuco Hills; 2. Peninsula; 3. Woodbridge; 4. Fullerton.

Pool 5 at Corona del Mar -- 1. Ayala; 2. Troy; 3. Stockdale.

Pool 6 at Costa Mesa -- 1. Sage Hill; 2. Carlsbad; 3. Canyon/Anaheim; 4. Costa Mesa.

Pool 7 at Corona del Mar -- 1. St. Margaret's; 2. Northwood; 3. Valencia/Placentia; 4. Silverado.

Pool 8 at Fountain Valley -- 1. Brea Olinda; 2. Laguna Hills; 3. Bonita; 4. Connelly.

SOUTH COAST WATER POLO TOURNAMENT IS THIS WEEKEND

The highly anticipated South Coast Tournament in boys volleyball will take place Thursday through Saturday at four high school pools in Orange County, with the championship match set for Newport Harbor at 4:05 p.m. Saturday.

Here are where the teams will begin their two days of pool play on Thursday. Quarterfinals will take place Friday at each pool, and those winners will advance to Saturday’s semifinals, which will take place at 10:40 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. at Newport Harbor.

Capistrano Valley High -- 1. Mater Dei; 2. Laguna Beach; 3. Capistrano Valley; 4. Vista; 5. Northwood; 6. San Clemente; 7. Granite Hills; 8. Buena Park.

Foothill High -- 1. El Toro; 2. Loyola; 3. Santa Barbara; 4. Foothill; 5. Punahou (Hawaii); 6. Mission Viejo; 7. Santa Margarita; 8. University.

Newport Harbor High -- 1. Newport Harbor; 2. Los Alamitos; 3. The Bishop's (La Jolla); 4. Long Beach Wilson; 5. Servite; 6. Edison; 7. Dana Hills; 8. Redlands.

Corona del Mar -- 1. Corona del Mar; 2. Huntington Beach; 3. Villa Park; 4. Dos Pueblos (Goleta); 5. Riverside Poly; 6. Esperanza; 7. La Canada; 8. Long Beach Poly.

SIP AND TIP

Aliso Niguel’s boys water polo program will hold a wine tasting fundraiser at the Salt Creek Wine Company, 30100 Town Center Dr., B-@, Laguna Niguel. Cost is $40 per person and includes appetizers and drawings.

More information can be found by checking the team's website.

WRESTLING OFFICIALS NEEDED FOR 2011-12 SEASON

The Orange County Wrestling Officials Assn. is looking to add officials to its rosters and is holding its first mandatory meeting for candidates for the 2011-12 high school season on Sunday at 6 p.m. in Room 240 (across from gymnasium) at Corona Del Mar High School.

For more information, contact Bruce Terry at (714) 876-7230 or drbruceterry@yahoo.com.

IVC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL HOSTS 'DIG PINK' GAME

Proceeds from the Irvine Valley women's volleyball home match on Friday, Oct. 28, against Orange Empire Conference rival Golden West, dubbed the "Dig Pink" match, will be donated to the Side-Out Foundation, which raises awareness for breast cancer research nationwide through volleyball matches, clinics and camps.

Everyone who donates $5 will receive a pink T-shirt from ASICS and a pink spray cleaner from Simple Green. To check out the Side-Out Foundation’s website, click here.

Have some high school news or a score that you'd like to share? Send it to O.C. Patch sports editor Bob Rohwer at bob.rohwer@patch.com.