Freshman

Jones, El Toro continue to sizzle in passing game, charge past Lompoc

By NATHANIEL PERCY | npercy@scng.com | Orange County Register
November 17, 2017 at 10:04 pm

LAKE FOREST – Big plays reigned supreme at El Toro High on Friday night, as Chargers quarterback Cooper Jones threw five touchdown passes for a second consecutive game in a 37-16 win over Lompoc in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 3 playoffs.

Receivers Noah Aguilar, Austin Derrico and Shane McLaughlin routinely found space between and beyond the secondary and made it easy for Jones, who finished 13 of 18 passing for 373 yards and five touchdowns.

Derrico and McLaughlin caught two TD passes each and Aguilar caught one. All three had more than 100 yards receiving.

“We were trying to get the short stuff first until they bite on it and then go over the top,” Aguilar said. “We really executed with that.”

El Toro (8-4) moves on to play St. Francis of La Canada on the road in the semifinals next week.

El Toro needed big stops from its defense early on after Derrico fumbled a punt and Matt Freem had a punt blocked, both setting up Lompoc deep in Chargers territory.

The defense allowed just seven points on those two possessions and held Lompoc’s talented rushing attack to just 48 first-half yards. Lompoc was without star running back Toa Taua because of an ankle injury.

“They teach us to stay as low as we can and that disrupts the whole line and gets us penetration,” said lineman Raymond Carpenter, who was in on four sacks and two tackles for loss.

Three plays into El Toro’s first drive, Jones hit Aguilar on a short pass, but Aguilar slipped through a tackle and raced 76 yards for a score.

After Lompoc (11-1) tied it on a Ruben Cortez 1-yard TD run, Jones hit McLaughlin for a 71-yard score on the first play of El Toro’s ensuing drive, the first of 23 unanswered points scored by the Chargers, who led 24-7 at halftime.

Jose Silva kicked a 26-yard field goal and quarterback Xavier Nix added a 13-yard TD run for the Braves in the fourth quarter.

El Toro coach Mike Mayoral gave credit to his coaching staff and the team after the win.

“They’re great kids, I love this group,” he said.

By DAN ARRITT | Orange County Register
November 10, 2017 at 10:28 pm

Jones has TD touch as El Toro tops Villa Park in thrilling playoff opener

ORANGE – Cooper Jones threw four of his five touchdown passes in the first quarter and El Toro held on for a 50-45 victory against Villa Park in a CIF-SS Division 3 first-round game at El Modena High.

The Spartans (9-2) fell behind by 22 points with just under five minutes left in the second quarter, but forced three of El Toro’s five turnovers in the third quarter and cut the deficit to 36-31 on a 1-yard touchdown reception by Dylan Bonilla with 10:46 left in the game.

El Toro (7-4) regained its groove and went 76 yards in three plays and moved back ahead 43-31 on a 43-yard touchdown catch by Shane McLaughlin.

The Chargers then sacked Villa Park quarterback Shane Illingworth on fourth down and tacked on another quick touchdown on a 1-yard run by Steven Castaneda for a 50-31 lead with just under nine minutes left.

Villa Park didn’t quit, however, pulling back within 50-45 with 2:17 remaining. The Spartans sent the ensuing kickoff out of bounds at the Spartans’ 38-yard line. Villa Park tackled El Toro for losses on three straight run plays and used its three timeouts to force El Toro to punt with two minutes left.

The Spartans threw four straight incomplete passes, however, and the Chargers were able to run out the clock.

El Toro will play Lompoc in the second round.

After a 44-yard touchdown run by Marcus Johnson cut the Villa Park deficit to 27-14 with 8:45 left in the first half, El Toro linebacker Raymond Carpenter sacked Illingworth in the end zone for safety, his ninth sack of the season.

John Betts then returned the ensuing punt 72 yards for a touchdown and the lead expanded to 36-14 with 4:59 left in the opening half.

After the Spartans made it 36-21 with 3:06 left, the Chargers missed a couple chances to expand their lead.

Austin Derrico stepped out of bounds at the Villa Park 28-yard line after getting behind the defense on a 52-yard catch, and a 45-yard field goal try by El Toro was then blocked.

El Toro won their Round 1 game of the CIF-SS D3 playoffs. Next Friday night, November 17th, the El Toro Chargers will take on Lompoc at Chargers Stadium at El Toro High School. Kick-off for this one is listed as 7:30pm

Victory and Go Chargers!

Game photos by Debbie Braasch from our win over Laguna Hills have posted. Use the below link to view and access them.

http://imageevent.com/pokemom/football/eltorohighschool/eths2017/102717lagunahills

To select previous games use this link here and select the game:

https://imageevent.com/pokemom/football/eltorohighschool/eths2017

2017 JV Photos by Tim Reynolds:

http://www.timreynoldsphotos.com/El-Toro-JV-Football-2017 Site Password: ETFootball

Thank you Debbie and Tim!!

The Night the Ground Shook

Laguna Hills High School, Laguna Hills , CA
October 27, 2017 – 2:26am

The Chargers wanted to head into the playoffs with a surge and they did just that Friday at Laguna Hills high school as they beat the Hawks 42-7 in front of their home crowd on senior night. El Toro used a dominating rushing attack, some timely passes, and a relentless, swarming defense to dominate the game.

No, that wasn’t the sound of horse hooves galloping through Laguna Hills Friday night. It was the El Toro rushing attack. The Chargers ran the football behind their offensive line of Dominick Vasquez, Troy Teofilo, Kyle Whitesides, August Clark and Patrick Davis to the tune of 245 total rushing yards. That front 5 wrecking crew created running lanes all night long for the El Toro running backs. Steven Castaneda and Julian Bruce are a formidable one-two punch, and a stellar tandem in the backfield for the Chargers. Castaneda carried the football 21 times for 131 yards and Bruce 13 times for 109 yards. The two of them slashed and dashed to 3 TD’s (2 Castaneda, 1 Bruce).

El Toro quarterback Cooper Jones finished with 3 touchdown passes, one each to Austin Derrico, Shane Mclaughlin, and Noah Aguilar. Shane McLaughlin made a streaking sideline TD catch of 72 yards to cap the first half scoring and put the Chargers up and in control 28-7. Derrico also returned multiple punts for over 60 yards, and Mclaughlin had a kick return of 28 yards. Noah Aguilar did it all on both sides of the ball as he has all season long.

Matthew Freem drilled all 6 of his PAT’s and was given a shot on a 46 yard field goal that just missed. Freem also pinned the Hawks inside the 5 yard line on a punt, and put the opening kick of the game into the end zone. Late in the game Freem came up and made a nice hit and tackle on a ball carrier during a kick return who was threatening to break into the clear.

Defensively El Toro made it a long and frustrating night for the Hawks. El Toro forced 2 turnovers, a fumble caused by a joint tackle from Mike Brown and John Betts that jarred the ball loose and allowed Nick Martinez to come up with it, and another on an interception by Jake Landry at the end of the 1st half. The Hawks completed only 1 pass all evening due to an intense pass rush that tallied 4 sacks ( Martinez, Brown, Carpenter & DiTammaso together on one, and Poderoso). The Chargers defense also racked up 10 tackles for losses on Laguna Hills rushing plays. Tackle leaders on the game were Wes Henderson (7), Sam Whipple (6) and Raymond Carpenter (6). Zach Raigosa had multiple tackles and batted down a pass, while John Betts, Mike Brown, Bradley DiTommaso, Charles Poderoso, Nick Martinez, and Jake Landry had multiple tackles in the game.

What those stats don’t say in how the defensive unit played together with intensity and focus. Coach Mayoral always preaches to his players the importance of alignment, assignment, and arriving to the football in a foul mood. The Chargers did all 3.

Coach Mayoral and his staff now get 2 weeks to prepare for the first round of the playoffs on November 10th. Their opponent and game venue won’t be known until CIF-SS playoff brackets are released after high school schedules are completed next Friday night. The release likely will be Sunday mid-morning and will post to CIF-SS websites and OC Varsity will give live bracket and seeding updates.

The Chargers worked hard all season to get to the dance, and now they get to show their moves on the floor. You can be sure the Charger Nation will be behind them all the way through every playoff round.

Victory and Go Chargers!