ORANGE — For every big play by the Yorba Linda offense on Friday night, there seemed to be an even bigger hit by the Mustangs’ defense.
Those two elements factored heavily in its 28-7 victory over Villa Park in the Bravo League opener for both teams at El Modena High.
“Our defense has been playing well,” Yorba Linda coach Jeff Bailey said. “They make it hard for most people.”
The Mustangs (5-1, 1-0) looked like the better team from the start.
Yorba Linda drove inside the Villa Park 5-yard line on its opening drive, but lost a fumble to the Spartans on a hand off.
The Mustangs got the ball back with help from the fifth sack of the season by Blake Thorp and marched back down the field, taking a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by sophomore Isaiah Trujillo with 1:53 left in the opening quarter.
“The D-line got good pressure today,” Yorba Linda cornerback Thomas Knutson said. “Really squeezed the quarterback in the pocket and made him make throws that he shouldn’t.”
Isaiah’s brother, Noah Trujillo, quarterbacked the first two drives for Yorba Linda and fellow junior Colin O’Connor took over for the next two.
On the second drive for O’Connor, the Mustangs converted on three fourth downs, the second on a 15-yard catch by Michael Saucedo on fourth-and-7 from the Villa Park 45, and the third on a 20-yard catch by Saucedo on fourth-and-6 from the 26.
Yorba Linda then scored on the next play on a 6-yard touchdown run by Aiden Gutierrez, stretching the lead to 14-0 with 3:17 left in the half.
Trujillo finished 6-for-8 for 132 yards and a touchdown. He also carried the ball twice for 58 yards. O’Connor was 6-for-10 for 61 yards.
“They’re both great kids and do a great job and basically just play half the game,” Bailey said of his quarterbacks. “One’s making some plays with his legs, one’s making plays with his arm.”
Villa Park (3-3, 0-1) then brought in junior Matt Smith to play quarterback and he led the Spartans across midfield before hitting sophomore wide receiver Alex Samuel with a 21-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 14-7 with 21 seconds left in the half.
Yorba Linda didn’t let the Spartans carry that momentum into the second half, however, forcing them to punt on their opening drive and then scoring on its first possession of the second half on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Trujillo to Troy Roberts, stretching the lead to 21-7 with 6:45 left in the third quarter.
After stopping Villa Park on fourth-and-goal from the 6, the Mustangs scored again on a 63-yard touchdown run by Vaughn Sharp to make it 28-7 with 10:30 left in the game.
“It felt good coming out today,” Knutson said. “Started off a little slow, gave up the one touchdown, but we finished it out.”