A runaway success

Following last week’s victory over San Juan Hills, Huntington Beach High football coach Eric Lo rattled off the names of his quarterback, running back and a key receiver.

Seniors Sean Guite, Jack Dilbeck and Kaller Roemer had all come to play, and the Oilers earned a 49-35 victory.

“We need that,” Lo said. “If we’re going to have success in league, we need those guys to step up like they did.”

Guite and Roemer were known quantities heading into the season, Guite a second-team all-Sea View League selection a year ago on a pass-first offense with Roemer on the first team.

But Dilbeck, the 5-foot-10 running back? He mostly played junior varsity and special teams last season. He came into this season, though, with confidence.

“I knew this would be my year to show what I’ve got,” Dilbeck said. “I just worked really hard in the offseason and I came in feeling like I could help us win. I never really thought that I’d ever get more than 10 carries in a game, to tell you the truth, because we were supposed to be a passing team going into the season.”

Ten carries? Try 30. That’s how many times Dilbeck got the ball against San Juan Hills. The more impressive statistics, though, are the 249 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Through five games, Dilbeck has 745 yards, which ranks him 10th in Orange County. In four of the five games, he’s reached the 100-yard mark.

“We knew Jack was a very god athlete, a lot of speed, real strong in the weight room,” Lo said. “We didn’t know how well he would play under the lights.”

The results have been obvious for the Oilers. As they head into their Sea View League opener Friday night at Tustin High against Foothill, Dilbeck has more yards than any other Sea View League back. And this is for a team whose leading rusher a season ago had just 67 carries and 411 yards.

By comparison, Guite threw the ball 355 times last year. Now he still likes to pass, but the senior signal-caller can also take advantage of teams stacking up against Dilbeck. Guite ran for 92 yards against San Juan Hills himself.

“In our spread offense, Sean can keep it if he wants,” Dilbeck said. “The better I run the ball, the better chance Sean also has to run the ball and get yards. I just thought I’d be pass-blocking most of the time.”

Not the case against San Juan Hills. In the first half alone, Dilbeck had five runs of over 10 yards, the highlight being a 56-yard touchdown run. He had 162 yards at halftime, and the track sprinter was showing everyone his speed.

“During the game, I was just kind of doing what I was taught to do, just going through my reads and doing what I’m supposed to do for a spread offense,” he said.

After the game, he thanked his offensive line of left tackle Cody Tucker, left guard Kurtis Ackerman, center Eric Chan, right guard Austin Clifford and right tackle Zane Hudak.

“I’ve been with those guys for three years now,” said Dilbeck, who transferred from Edison after his freshman year. “I know them pretty well. We’ve got a big, physical line and they know how to hit you.”

But it was his younger brother Alex, a junior who is a junior varsity receiver, who hit him during the season opener against JSerra. Jack Dilbeck had just scored the Oilers’ first touchdown at renovated Cap Sheue Field.

“I was talking to the coach, trying to figure out what I had done wrong on a couple plays before,” Jack Dilbeck said. “[Alex] comes up and he grabs my helmet and looks at me and says, ‘First Oiler to score on Sheue Field! Atta boy!’ And he just smacks me right across the face.

“I didn’t realize that until he said that, but it’s what I remember from that game. It’s one of the things that will stick in my head as I go on to college.”