PLACENTIA – DJ Mitchell threw three touchdown passes and ran for another in La Habra’s 42-3 win over El Dorado in an Epsilon League opener for both teams Thursday at Valencia High.
Mitchell, a junior, completed 22 of 37 passes for 221 yards and scored on a 16-yard run. Bryce Vasquez had 10 receptions for 151 yards and two touchdowns.
Andrew Becerra caught Mitchell’s other touchdown pass. Bobby Brooks and Kevika Martinez scored rushing touchdowns.
La Habra, No. 13 in the Orange County Top 25, is 5-1 overall. El Dorado is 3-3.
La Habra coach Frank Mazzotta had mixed feelings about the Highlanders’ performance Thursday.
“It’s a league game, coming off of a bye,” said Mazzotta, noting that La Habra did not play last week. “And we were trying to work on some things offensively. I thought the defense played well.”
El Dorado had no success running the ball. Golden Hawks sophomore quarterback Hudson Shaddow passed for 191 yards while absorbing some heavy shots from the Highlanders defense. He exited the game twice after getting shook up from some tough hits.
La Habra won the league championship last season, going 5-0 in league. El Dorado was 1-4 in league last year.
La Habra got four turnovers on three interceptions and a fumble recovery. Santi Cuesta and Nick Reza had interceptions — the third interception of the season for Cuesta and Reza — and Bobby Brooks had the other interception. Cuesta also recovered a muffed punt return.
After a scoreless first quarter, La Habra took a 7-0 lead on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Mitchell to Vasquez on the third play of the second quarter. It was Vasquez fifth touchdown reception this season.
El Dorado’s Nate Tierney kicked a 24-yard field goal to make it 7-3.
La Habra responded on its ensuing possession, driving 68 yards on nine plays with Brooks finishing it with a 5-yard touchdown run with 2:39 left in the half. That enabled the Highlanders to take a 14-3 lead into halftime.
The Highlanders dominated the second half. They expanded their lead to 21-3 on a 7-yard touchdown run by Martinez. Mitchell scored on a 16-yard wild scramble on which he ran from one sideline to the other before finding a path to the end zone for a 28-3 lead.
A 28-yard touchdown pass from Mitchell to Vasquez late in the third quarter made it 35-3. The Highlanders added a 3-yard touchdown pass from Mitchell to Becerra in the fourth quarter to complete the scoring.
Mazzotta saw plenty of room for the Highlanders to improve.
“We need to get better overall passing-game wise,” he said. “We’ve got to tighten that up. We used a couple new receivers and that does affect timing.
“We’ve got this under our belt and we can build on it.”