ORANGE – San Juan Hills stayed on track to win the first-ever Bravo League football championship outright with a 42-10 win over Villa Park in a league game Thursday at El Modena High.

The Stallions, No. 7 in the Orange County Top 25, are 4-0 in the new league and 8-1 overall. There is one week left in the regular season.

Villa Park, No. 13 in the county rankings, is 6-3 overall and 2-2 in league.

Stallions running back Elijah Ayala scored on runs of 39 and 50 yards in the first half. Troy Murphy returned an interception for a San Juan Hills touchdown in the first quarter.

The San Juan Hills defense limited Villa Park to 62 yards passing. The Spartans went into this week averaging 186 passing yards a game.

CIF Southern Section football playoffs brackets will be released Nov. 3. Teams will be placed into playoff divisions according to their Calpreps.com rating at the end of the regular season. If the playoffs were to have begun this week San Juan Hills and Villa Park would be in Division 3.

San Juan Hills clinched a share of the championship of the six-team league with Thursday’s win. All six league teams – Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor, Tesoro, Yorba Linda and San Juan Hills and Villa Park – are in the Orange County Top 25.

The Stallions conclude the regular season with a league game at Tesoro on Friday, Nov. 1. Villa Park’s final regular-season game is Friday, Nov. 1 against Newport Harbor at El Modena High.

San Juan Hills, like it did in a 26-16 league win over Yorba Linda this month, played a clean game. On Thursday the Stallions committed no turnovers and were penalized only three times.

Postgame with San Juan Hills running back Elijah Ayala who scored on runs of 39 and 80 yards and hard-hitting safety Grant Kitteredge after a 42-10 win over Villa Park … pic.twitter.com/Yzu7x1SFci

— Steve Fryer (@SteveFryer) October 25, 2024

San Juan Hills coach Robert Frith was pleased by that and the Stallions’ aggressive style.

“We know every team in this league has the capability to be very, very physical,” Frith said. “So we preached every day, every practice, in meetings, that you have to be physical. The most physical team wins this league.

“We talked about three things: Being the most physical team on the field, being extremely disciplined and playing for the brotherhood.”

Ayala, who went into the game averaging 64 rushing yards a game, had 135 rushing yards in the first half on five carries, most of them coming on 39- and 80-yard touchdown runs. He carried only twice for 7 yards in the second half.

San Juan Hills junior quarterback Timmy Herr completed 11 of 19 passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns.

Murphy’s touchdown on his interception came on Villa Park’s first play from scrimmage. Murphy cut in front of the Villa Park receiver to pick off the ball at the 34-yard line and ran unchecked from there to the end zone for the touchdown.

Villa Park quickly tied it 7-7. A 38-yard run by Spartans quarterback Nate Lewis was the big play that led to a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Dominic Ancich.

Ayala’s 39-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter put the Stallions on top 14-7. A few minutes later Ayala popped through a large hole on the left side of the line to sprint his way for the 80-yard touchdown run and a 21-7 lead.

San Juan Hills put together a quick drive for another first-half touchdown. Starting at their 31 with 1:41 remaining, the Stallions’ excursion downfield included Herr passes of 13 yards to Ryan Matheson, 17 yards to Dean Kolasinski and 31 yards to Luke Frith. Herr ran 9 yards for a touchdown with nine seconds remaining in the second quarter for a 28-7 halftime lead.

The Stallions stretched the margin to 28 points early in the third quarter on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Herr to Jake Vuoso.

Lewis, who plays quarterback and safety for Villa Park, went into the game as the Spartans’ leading tackler. He is also the Spartans’ punter and kicked a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter to make it 35-10. Lewis tried a 52-yard field goal in the first half; his kick had plenty of distance but was wide left.

A 19-yard touchdown pass from Herr to Gavin Darst late in the fourth quarter completed the scoring.

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