Loara Dispatches Katella in Second Half, Wins Title
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The Loara Saxons overcame a sluggish first half and went on to a 31-9 victory over Katella in an Empire League game Friday night at Western High.
The Saxons (8-2, 5-0 in league) won the league title outright for the first time since 1986.
Katella (3-7, 2-3) came into the game with a chance to go to the playoffs with a win or a tie, but couldn’t keep up with Loara in the second half after the score was tied, 9-9, at halftime.
Rudy Acosta was the standout for Loara. He intercepted three passes and returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.
The Saxons opened the third-quarter with a 72-yard drive that featured runs by Billy Chavez of nine, 21 and 13 yards. It culminated with a one-yard plunge by quarterback Jeremy Ellis to make the score 15-9. The Saxons got the two-point conversion despite the fact that the snap was bobbled. Ryan Gusman ran it in to make the score 17-9.
The Saxons’ second drive of the half was quite similar to the first, again capped by a one-yard Ellis run. Ellis completed eight of 14 passes for 97 yards.
Chavez, who finished with 161 yards in 24 carries, scored the game’s final points on a 32-yard run.
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