NHS gridder defense shuts off the Flashes
by Jesse Phelps

This time the Rangers put it away early. A boisterous homecoming crowd witnessed a dominating performance Friday night at Ojai Valley Community Stadium as Nordhoff ran away with an impressive 27-7 Tri-Valley League victory over the Fillmore Flashes to reach .500 on the season.
A stifling defensive effort limited the Flashes (3-3, 1-2) to six first downs on the evening and a balanced offensive attack kept the Fillmore defenders on their heels. Nordhoff (3-3, 2-1) racked up 323 yards of total offense, 199 on the ground.
Sophomore Will Strong carried 25 times for 138 yards and scored all three touchdowns for Nordhoff, which got an average of 4.6 yards per carry for the night. The Rangers dominated time of possession, controlling the ball over 15 minutes during the first half. Seemingly before anyone knew they had arrived at the stadium, they led 17-0 on two Strong touchdowns and a field goal by Jaymes Quirino.
Fillmore nabbed its lone touchdown of the evening on the first possession of the second half. Halfback Tommy McCary took a pitch from QB Erasmo Maciel and fed wide receiver Tony Edwards for a 46-yard score. For a moment, it looked like the Flasheses might make a charge.
But on the ensuing drive, Strong punched it in again from three yards out after the Rangers converted a series of third-down plays. Starting quarterback Ryan Whitcomb, who was a perfect five for five passing, found wideout Andy Doyle for a crucial first down then scrambled for another. Doyle and Whitcomb connected three times on the night for 58 yards.
"I've been competing with Ryan since we were in Eagles," Doyle said. "We've got the hookup with each other, I suppose."
Another Quirino field goal completed the scoring with 2:27 to go. In all, the Nordhoff defense sacked Maciel six times, eventually knocking him out of the game in the fourth quarter. Brad Cattoni had two sacks and once again Josh Douglas got into the backfield with regularity.
Douglas described it as a team effort: "It feels great to get a lot of sacks, really great. I've gotta thank the other side of the line, too, because they're pressuring the quarterback to stop right there and make me get the sack."
Nordhoff Coach Cliff Farrar was pleased with his team's preparation and effort on the field. "Both sides of the ball played very well tonight," he said. "This was our best week of practice that we've had all year long and the enthusiasm just has built. We're starting to jell as a team, guys are starting to find their roles and we're doing some good things."
Nordhoff is away at Oak Park this Friday and will return for their next home game Nov. 8 against Oaks Christian for Senior Parent Night.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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