Football: El Toro Topples Laguna Hills, 44-6, to Win Sea View League Title

For the 2011 El Toro Chargers, a team that made a habit out of doling out hind-kickings week after week, there was no more fitting a way to capture the Sea View League championship than drilling Laguna Hills, 44-6, Friday night at Trabuco Hills High.

The CIF Southern Section will announce Southwest Division playoff seedings on Sunday, but because El Toro (9-1 overall, 4-0 in league), currently ranked No. 3 in the Southwest Division coaches' poll, won the Sea View League crown, the Chargers are guaranteed to host their first-round matchup, which will likely be against a third-place team from another league.

"I feel like a champion," El Toro's second-year coach Rob Frith said. "Our goal was to win the league. I'm just really proud of our kids. Proud of our coaching staff and the job they put in the past weeks preparing for a pretty good Laguna Hills team."

Led by junior quarterback Conner Manning, who came into the contest as  the county's second-leading passer in terms of yardage (2,347), and first in touchdowns (25), El Toro's offense was a well-oiled machine, cranking out 519 yards, including 355 through the air from Manning, who connected on 10 of 11 second-half attempts, and spread the wealth to eight different receivers.

The defense, meanwhile, was beastly.

All told, El Toro collected 10 tackles-for-loss, a sack, an interception, two fumble recoveries, and blocked the Hawks' only point-after attempt, a boot which came with four minutes left in the fourth quarter after a 91-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Moore (12-of-19 passing, 210 yards) to Brian Downs.

The play, which came against the Chargers' second-team defense, accounted for nearly half of Laguna Hills' total offensive production.

The Hawks ran for negative one yard in the first half, and finished with eight. They moved the first-down sticks just seven times, 21 fewer than El Toro, went three-and-out on five occasions, and ran only 37 plays, the same number of passes Manning (25-of-37) attempted on the evening.

"Mike Mayoral, our defensive coordinator, does an unbelievable job with these guys every week," Frith said. "I attribute [Laguna Hills'] lack of being able to rush to our game plan. Our kids are very well coached, and they had a pretty good idea of what they were doing."

While the Chargers' defense made life miserable for Laguna Hills, Manning and the offense were at once methodical and electric.

After Roger Howard capped an 11-play opening drive with a 24-yard field goal, Jacob Furnari made it 10-0 with 1:34 left in the first when he ran in his first touchdown from six yards out.

Furnari finished with 110 yards in 26 carries and made it 24-0 by halftime with a pair of second-quarter, one-yard scores with nine and two minutes left, respectively. El Toro's first-half scoring drives accrued 12, 11, nine and eight plays and amassed 283 yards, yet averaged only 2:30 a drive.

"It feels great," Furnari said. "We work so hard, me and my brothers out here. I love the group of guys we have. We're really cohesive, and I love them all. It feels great to win a championship with them."

Furnari made it 30-0 with his fourth touchdown run four minutes into the third quarter, then Manning got in on the act with his first score, a 21-yard connection with Greg Holloway on a seam route that put the Chargers up by 37 with a little more than 13 minutes left to play.

On the night, Manning racked up first-down passes of 30, 12 twice, 18, 11, 19, 21, 20 twice, 30, 16, 17, 13, 21 and 10. Three El Toro receivers had six receptions or more, including Cody White (6 receptions, 103 yards), Alec Shoffeitt (7-73) and Blake Murphy (6-85).

"Our offensive line carries us every week," Furnari said. "[Manning], I love that guy. We've got the short passing game, the long passing game, and we can run the ball. He lets me do what I do, and vice versa, you know?"

Pat Murphy added the exclamation point when he made it 44-0 on a one-yard scamper 15 seconds into the fourth, after a Jeff Nelson fumble recovery. Sam Travis also recovered a fumble for the Chargers in punt coverage, and Erik Pitts picked off a Moore pass in the end zone, preserving the Chargers' shutout early in the fourth.

"As we enter this tournament, it's nothing but good teams," Frith said. "Every week, we're just going to try and go 1-0 and see how far we can take this thing."

Laguna Hills (8-2, 2-2), qualified for the postseason as the Sea View League's second-place finisher, and will also await Sunday's announcement from the section office.

The playoff brackets will be available Sunday afternoon at http://www.cifss.org.


GAME STATISTICS


                           1     2     3     4   --   T

Laguna Hills       0     0     0     6   --   6

El Toro               10   14    13    7   --  44


                                LH            ET

First Downs               7             28
Rushing Yards           8            164
Passing Yards          210          355
Total Net Yards        218          519
Turnovers                 3               1
Penalties-Yards      6-65           5-45


SCORING

1st Quarter

ET -- Roger Howard 24 field goal, 9:36
ET -- Jacob Furnari 6 run; Howard kick, 1:34

2nd Quarter

ET -- Furnari 1 run; Howard kick, 9:28
ET -- Furnari 1 run; Howard kick, 2:16

3rd Quarter

ET -- Furnari 2 run; kick failed, 7:58
ET -- Greg Holloway 21 pass from Conner Manning; Howard kick, 1:36

4th Quarter

ET -- Pat Murphy 1 run; Howard kick, 11:45
LH -- Brian Downs 91 pass from Kevin Moore; kick blocked, 4:10