ORANGE – Orange erased a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat Villa Park 25-16 on Friday night at El Modena High.
Isaiah Adetoye scored the go-ahead touchdown with 6:31 left in the game and Daylen Pedroza led the Panthers by accounting for over 200 yards of offense and two touchdowns (one pass, one run).
The situation wasn’t ideal, but Orange coach Robert Pedroza knew his team could make amends in the second half.
“These kids don’t have quit in them,” he said, “they work so hard in practice, listen to coaches, they trust each other and the result is this. They deserve every ounce of this win right now, it’s amazing.”
The Panthers (1-0), No. 18 in the Orange County preseason rankings, got a much-needed jolt from Raymond Casillas who returned the second half kickoff for a 98-yard touchdown to get Orange on the scoreboard and cut Villa Park’s lead, 10-6.
“He’s a stud, that’s the lightning we needed,” Pedroza said of Casillas.
Orange picks up a huge season opening win over Villa Park, 25-16. Daylen Pedroza (102 pass yds TD,102 rush yds,TD) thanked his linemen for their contributions. @ocvarsity @Orangepantherf1 @daylenp04 @CoachPedroza pic.twitter.com/vzkAQjMnkE
— David Delgado
(@DavidDelgado_OC) March 13, 2021
(@DavidDelgado_OC) The No. 16 Spartans (0-1) answered with a scoring drive of their own, capped by an 11-yard scoring run by Jackson Christie. But Villa Park was held scoreless for the remainder of the game thanks to the stingy Orange defense.
“Our defense looked amazing, from Blaze Iglesias on the defensive line, our linebackers, DB’s covered well, it was a great performance,” Pedroza said.
The Panthers’ offense got going in the third quarter with Adetoye and speedy freshman Kobe Boykin.
“Isaiah ran the ball so hard today and we expected that from him today, and Kobe Boykin changed the game with his speed,” Pedroza said.
Boykin touched the ball three times in the drive that ended when Pedroza hit Roger Arroyo for a 10-yard touchdown pass and made the score 16-12 with 5:26 left in the third.
Orange continued to wear down Villa Park in the fourth as Adetoye broke a few long runs including the go-ahead score, a 30-yard burst where he broke several tackles.
The Panthers forced a three-and-out and kept pounding that ball with Pedroza picking up some key first downs that ate up clock late in the game. He then broke free for a 27-yard TD run that secured the win with 1:03 left.
Villa Park got off to a great start when Damian Cruz picked off Pedroza’s second pass attempt of the game.
The Spartans could only manage a 30-yard field goal by Jake Cipres to take a 3-0 lead in the first.
Villa Park made it 10-0 with 1:20 left in the second quarter when quarterback Nathan Kornely, who started 0 for 8, finally connected with Zeus Alefosio for his first completion of the game, a 19-yard touchdown pass.
The drive started at the Spartans 24 and took nearly 7 minutes.
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