Breakers prep for La Quinta

Mike Sciacca

There were many pluses to come out of Laguna Beach High’s 34-13

victory over host Palos Verdes in the season opener for both teams

played on Sept. 5.

A potent offense featured several big-play efforts and overall,

the team played well as a whole, coach Dave Holland said.

But with the good came a bit of scrutiny, problems, Holland said,

that can be fixed.

“If there was one area I think we need to work on, it’s on

defense,” he said. “But it’s stuff we can fix, such as things like

timing.

“But on the whole, everyone played well. I was happy with this

win.”

Laguna (1-0) rolled against a Palos Verdes program that was

playing its first varsity football game since the 1989 season.

The school closed its doors at the end of the 1989-90 school year

but reopened in 2002.

The Breakers first got on the board when Lewie Duker scored on a

20-yard return of a blocked punt and Brett Landrum ran in a two-point

conversion.

But it was in the second quarter where Laguna took complete

command as 20 unanswered points resulted in a 28-0 halftime lead.

Brandon Hooper scored on a 22-yard run to up the lead to 15-0 and

Jake Wheeler was on the receiving end of two touchdown passes from

Alex Wilson, scores which covered 18 and 50 yards.

In the third quarter, Wilson connected with Wheeler on a 24-yard

scoring pass to complete Laguna’s scoring.

Also in the second half, Hooper came up with a nice kickoff return

to set the Breakers up in good field position.

Laguna’s defense played three quarters of shutout ball before

yielding two, fourth quarter touchdowns.

“There were a lot of positives on offense but we still have a lot

of work to do on defense,” Holland said. “This opener gave up a good

look at what we need to work on.”

One Laguna workhorse was junior Sean DeGarmo, who played both

ways.

In addition to starting at offensive guard, DeGarmo played at

linebacker and was named Laguna’s defensive player of the game.

Laguna will be after its second win of the young season when the

Breakers travel Saturday to Garden Grove High to meet La Quinta in a

7 p.m. start.

Key returners for the Aztecs, who are playing their season opener,

include junior quarterback Case Jongelen and offensive lineman Peter

Fourtounis.

“I think they are in a rebuilding stage,” Holland said of the

Aztecs, who went 1-9 last year. “They run various things on offense

and could come at us with a 3-4 defense.”

The Aztecs will be playing their first game under new head coach

James Stewart.

Last September, Laguna rolled past visiting La Quinta, 40-12.