Sunny Hills (2-1) faced a 14-35 loss against Beckman High (3-0) on Friday, Oct. 10, marking their second defeat of the season. Despite the outcome, the Lancers displayed moments of team effort.
In the third quarter, senior running back George Shelledy put Sunny Hills on the board with the team’s first touchdown of the night. He did this with the help of the senior quarterback Mikael Khan.
“I scored off a run play in the red zone thanks to Mikael passing the ball downfield to set up my run,” Shelledy said.
In addition, Shelledy said the Lancers’ offensive line led to the play’s success too, especially right tackle Zach Castillo’s block, which opened a path to the end zone in the third quarter.
“It was perfectly executed by the linemen thanks to Zach Castillo’s perfect lead block to help find my way into the end zone,” Shelledy said.
Castillo said the play showed how determined the team was to score points.
“We were down by two touchdowns and needed points on the board,” Castillo said. “We ran our most effective play, ‘Clark One,’ and my job was to get George in the end zone; I was ready to help George get that first touchdown”
Also in the third quarter, senior wide receiver Pierrce Sandle added another touchdown for the Lancers after finding space in the back of the end zone.
“The ball was on the right hash and I was on the right side of the ball,” Sandle said “I ran a drag in the back of the end zone and caught it.”
After the game, head coach Fred Gambrell said penalties and mistakes prevented the Lancers from playing up to their potential.
“We didn’t perform up to our standard,” Gambrell said. “We made too many mistakes overall like a lot of offsides, false starts, three fumbles, and one interception.”
Still, Gambrell said Shelledy’s and Sandle’s touchdowns reflected what the boys were capable of doing and the standard on the team.
“That’s who we are,” he said. “Big plays like that happen when we execute and do what we’re supposed to do, so it’s not a surprise because we expect those kinds of performances out of our guys; it’s more of a surprise when we don’t.”
Co-captain Shelledy said this loss is just motivation to do better.
“I feel like our team did not play our best game and just weren’t executing our assignments,” the co-captain said. “We definitely feel more motivated now and more dialed in for the next games to come.”
Despite the setback, Gambrell remains confident in the team’s ability to recover and perform to the standard they are held at.
“It’s part of football; sometimes you just don’t play well,” Gambrell said. “But we’ve bounced back before, and we’ll do it again by playing the type of football we know we can.”
The team backed up Gambrell’s optimism by winning against Valencia High School (0-3) with a final score of 51-20 in the following week.
“I feel very proud of our team and how we managed to bounce back after a tough loss last Friday against Beckman,” Shelledy said, “It definitely boosted our confidence back up again.”
The Lancers will go against Fullerton High School (2-1) at Buena Park High School Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m.
