FULLERTON – Ethan Mundt had another big game, and Troy won another football league championship.
Mundt, a senior running back, rushed for 121 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries as the Warriors defeated El Toro 41-24 on the final night of the regular season to win the Iota League championship for the second year in a row.
Troy finished the regular season 9-1 overall and 5-0 in league. The Warriors won the Iota League championship last season, the first year of the league’s existence with a 5-0 league record and were league champions in 2023 in the old Freeway League.
The Warriors’ only loss this season a close one, 24-21 to La Mirada in a nonleague game.
El Toro was tied with Troy for first place going into Friday’s game. The Chargers finished the regular season 6-4 overall and 4-1 in league.
Both teams are headed for the CIF Southern Section playoffs. Playoff teams are placed into playoff divisions according what their ranking and rating is at HSratings.com.
CIF Southern Section football playoff brackets will be released Sunday morning. Corona del Mar and Yorba Linda will be in the playoffs that begin next Thursday and Friday.
Troy coach Michael Echaves expects his team could be either among the higher sees in Division 5 or among the lower teams in Division 4. El Toro coach Peter Lofthouse anticipates the Chargers to be placed in either Division 6 or Division 7.
Mundt rushed for 91 yards and three touchdowns on 15 first-half carries. He did not play in the fourth quarter with the Warriors having the game well in hand.
He missed a couple of games because of injury. He went into this week as Orange County’s third-leading rusher with 1,196 yards and was averaging 171 yards a game and 8 yards a carry. His four rushing touchdowns Friday raised his season total to 22.
Unlike most high school running backs, who run full speed as soon as they get the ball on a handoff or pitchout from the quarterback, Mundt takes a couple of slow steps forward, patiently waiting for the hole to open then zooms into the opening.
Mundt, who also caught four passes for 55 yards, said that is instinctual.
“I’ve been playing football since I was 6 years old,” he said after Friday’s game. “So I know how things are supposed to look. It comes pretty naturally to me.”
Troy coach Michael Echaves continues to be impressed by his senior running back.
“He is such a smart football player,” Echaves said. “He knows where the blocks are coming from, he sets them up and finds the creases. It’s like he’s in a maze – ‘I’m in a maze where do I turn’ and, boom, he squirts through.”
Troy’s other running back, Charles Rippon, also had a productive night. He rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.
Mundt and Rippon benefitted from fine play from the offensive line of Daniel Aguirre, Nathaniel Baranda, Zachary Blume, Ethan Lugo and Chris Morales and Cesar Ornelas and tight ends Hudson Ploog and Brady Soffa.
Mundt’s first touchdown finished Troy’s first possession. The Warriors’ Andrew Green intercepted a pass at their 8-yard line and returned it to Troy’s 36. Seven plays later Mundt scored on a 5-yard run for a 7-0 lead.
El Toro’s Gianluca D’Amato kicked a 41-yard field goal with plenty of distance to spare to make it 7-3 with 3:29 to go in the first quarter. Troy responded quickly, getting a touchdown on a 24-yard pass from junior quarterback Mason Mays to Hudson Ploog to extend the Warriors lead to 14-3.
Troy looked like it was on the way to a rout of a victory by scoring two touchdowns in the first six minutes of the second quarter. Mundt took a pitchout for a 16-yard touchdown run and added a 1-yard score for a 27-3 (the point-after kick attempt on the second of those touchdowns missed the target).
El Toro’s offense got hot in the final minutes of the second quarter. Chargers junior quarterback Wyatt Nucci scored on a 14-yard run and, with 20 seconds left in the quarter, connected with Bryce Thacker on a 3-yard touchdown pass to make it 27-17 at halftime.
Troy scored touchdowns on four of its five first-half possessions.
Mundt’s fourth touchdown came on a 10-yard run early in the third quarter to make it 34-17. Rippon scored on a 7-yard run later in the quarter for a 41-17 lead. El Toro got a touchdown on a 26-yard pass from Nucci to Makade Romo late in the fourth quarter to account for the final 41-24 score.