The Sunny Hills football team notched its first victory of the season in a non-league away game Sept. 6 against Irvine High School.

“Happy to get a win this week,” the Lancers’ head coach Peter Karavedas said after the game in an email statement. “The boys came out fired up after the tough loss against Aliso [Niguel].”

Karavedas was referring to the team’s Aug. 30 home season opener in which Sunny Hills (1-1) lost 36-35. Trailing by seven, Aliso Niguel scored its only points in the fourth quarter as time expired; instead of kicking the point after for the tie, it opted for a two-point conversion play, which worked and sealed the victory for Aliso.

After the game, he blamed the loss on himself as a defensive coordinator for the team.

“I thought our kids played their hearts out, but we gotta coach better on defense, and I call the defense, so I gotta coach better,” Karavedas said in a Sept. 1 Orange County Register article.

Defensive improvements were seen on the field against Irvine, as the Lancers held the Vaqueros to only six points by the end of the first half.

“We made some key adjustments this week on defense that proved to really help us improve,” Karavedas said.

The Lancer offense also took control of the game early, scoring five times in the first half but missing one of the point after kicks, ending the second quarter with a dominating 34-6 advantage.

Sunny Hills scored three more touchdowns in the third quarter and shut out the Vaquero offense until the fourth when Irvine scored two touchdowns, ending the game with a final score of 55-20.

The Lancers next play another non-conference away game Sept. 13 against Brea Olinda High School (2-0). The Wildcats’ two-game winning streak came in their season opener Aug. 30 against Sonora — another Freeway League opponent — in a 21-6 performance and their Sept. 6 away game against Valencia in which they narrowly defeated Valencia 27-26.