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DANA POINT — Dana Hills and Laguna Beach shared the marquee for Orange County football on Friday in a clash of undefeated teams with high-powered offenses.
The South County neighbors both thrived in the spotlight but Laguna Beach kept its perfect record.
Jack Hurst threw for 387 yards and five touchdowns as Laguna Beach defeated host Dana Hills 49-40 before a near-capacity crowd to clinch at least a share of the Foxtrot League championship.
Laguna Beach (9-0, 4-0) took a 49-40 lead with 2:10 left in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard touchdown run by Bob Gardner and a 2-point conversion on Hurst’s pass to Wyatt Bogdan.
On the ensuing possession, Gardner intercepted a pass at his 41 as the Breakers again ended a school-record start by Dana Hills (8-1, 3-1).
Last season, Dana Hills started 8-0 before falling at Laguna Beach 35-32 in league.
“I’m unbelievably happy for our kids, unbelievably happy for our town and our families,” Laguna Beach coach John Shanahan said, “but I feel a little empathy for these guys (Dana Hills) because they’ve had such an incredible, incredible season.”
“When you get those two incredible programs that work really hard, that are coached really well, you get games like this,” the coach added. “Winning league championships is a humongous deal now a days because teams that are 10-0 or 9-1, they don’t win CIF championships any more (in the power ratings system).”
Laguna Beach, ranked 19th in Orange County, took a 27-26 lead going into the fourth quarter on Hurst’s 26-yard touchdown pass to Otis Boultinghouse with 1:13 left in the third.
The Breakers executed a trick play on the first play of the fourth to extend their lead. Wide receiver Brady Stringham took a reverse and threw a 27-yard touchdown to Will Kimball, who made a spectacular diving grab in the corner of the end zone.
Laguna Beach led 34-26 and weren’t caught.
“That’s as good of a catch as you’re going to see any where,” Shanahan said of Kimball’s full-extension reception. “We practiced that play for five weeks knowing we’re going to run it tonight because we need those type of plays.”
Running back Radley Geiss led No. 17 Dana Hills by rushing for 237 yards and five TDs.
The senior scored on a 29-yard TD run with 9:31 left in the fourth as the Dolphins trimmed the Laguna Beach lead to 34-32.
Hurst responded with a 78-yard touchdown pass to Stringham that opened a 41-32 lead for Laguna Beach with 9:12 remaining.
But Dana Hills and Geiss kept pushing. The Dolphins cut Laguna Beach’s lead to 41-40 with 5:01 left on a 13-yard touchdown run by Geiss and Carter Anderson’s pass to James Leicester on 2-point conversion.
The Dolphins’ Jack Norman then made a leaping recovery of an onside kick but Laguna Beach’s defense held to set the stage for Gardner’s touchdown.
“You just give them a lot of credit,” Dana Hills coach Tony Henney said Laguna Beach. “My heart breaks for the fact that I just feel like we didn’t play a very disciplined football game. … Their discipline is why they’re champions.”
Laguna Beach matched its best start since 1968 and extend its all-time series lead against Dana Hills to 13-11-1.
Dana Hills tied the score 20-20 and took its first lead 26-20 on a pair of touchdown runs by Geiss in the third quarter.
Laguna Beach led 20-13 after a back and forth first half behind three touchdown passes from Hurst.
The junior capped the Breakers’ second possession with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Kimball as Laguna Beach capitalized on a high snap by a Dana Hills punt.
Dana Hills responded with a 47-yard touchdown run by Geiss with two minutes left in the opening quarter. Geiss scored one play after an interception by Norman.
Hurst bounced back by connecting with Grant Regal for another score. Hurst completed a pass along the sideline to Regal and watched the wide receiver break away for a 69-yard touchdown for a 13-7 lead with 1:39 left in the first period.
Dana Hills tied the score 13-13 in the middle of the second quarter on a 12-yard touchdown catch by Norman from Anderson. The strike punctuated an 80-yard scoring drive.
But Hurst had the final word in the first half. He found Regal again for an 8-yard TD as Laguna Beach took a 20-13 advantage with 6:43 left in the half.
Hurst completed 15 of 23 passes for 243 yards in the first half. He finished 22 of 31 and helped the Breakers push their scoring average to 44.7 points per game.
Kimball and Regal finished with 124 and 105 yards receiving, respectively.
Laguna Beach outgained Dana Hills 424-414.
Next week, Dana Hills plays host to Northwood on Thursday, Oct. 30. Laguna Beach takes on Orange on Friday, Oct. 31 at El Modena High.
