BELLFLOWER – The Yorba Linda football team withstood a first-half scoring effort from Mayfair’s CJ Johnson and scored 28 unanswered points in the second half for a 49-21 win at Bellflower High.
The Mustangs are a radically different team from the team that reached the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoffs last year, while Mayfair returned 14 starters from a team that reached the CIF State Division 3-A title game.
But the Mustangs were in control from the start, except for three dazzling plays by Johnson.
One of the Mustangs’ most important players is second-year receiver Troy Roberts, who fits perfectly into coach Jeff Bailey’s fly offense. He rushed for 113 yards on sweeps from his receiver spot, including a 51-yard run on the first play of the second half after Johnson tied the score on the last play of the first half by blocking a 45-yard field goal attempt and returning it 50 yards for a touchdown and tying the score at 21-21.
“We were trying to set something up and then all of a sudden the play broke off and went almost 55 yards,” Bailey said. “We did a fly sweep. We were able to catch the corner and Troy took good advantage of it.”
Roberts’ sweep gave the Mustangs a first down at the Monsoons’ 25-yard line, and after a few 8-yard runs, Noah Trujillo managed a 9-yard run with 9:51 minutes left in the third quarter.
After a defensive stop at midfield forced a Mayfair punt, Roberts struck again, completing a 26-yard sweep on the first attempt, then catching a 35-yard pass from Holden Nagin. Vaughn Sharp finished the quick drive with a 10-yard touchdown run, the first of his two touchdowns.
The Mustangs’ only slip-up in the second half was a lost fumble at the Mayfair 1-yard line in the final seconds of the third quarter. But the Mustangs held on and forced a punt, and Sharp finished the ensuing 35-yard drive with a second TD run.
Johnson had been spectacular for Mayfair in the first half. After the Mustangs’ second touchdown, he returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown.
He brought the Monsoons within 21-14 with a diving 10-yard touchdown pass from Jeremiah Calvin late in the second quarter.
On the final play of the first half, he burst through the line to block Cayden Eilers’ 42-yard field goal attempt, picked up the ball after a bounce and ran 45 yards to the goal.
“That was just part of our sloppiness, you know,” Bailey said. “We went into the game thinking we were going to be great on special teams. Those are things we have to learn as players. We get a little lead and then let up a little bit.”
