El Dorado football tops Troy with strong second-half effort

PLACENTIA — The El Dorado football team scored 20 consecutive points to beat Troy 26-12 in in a nonleague game Friday night at Valencia High.

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Golden Hawks quarterback Hudson Shaddow threw for 234 yards and three touchdowns and Justin Karg caught seven passes for 129 yards and two scores. Karg also threw a 55-yard TD pass to Mason Shackleton and recorded an interception on defense.

El Dorado coach Zack LaMonda was pleased to get back in the win column after losing to El Modena last week.

“We came out with a victory,” La Monda said of his team’s performance. “Still made mistakes, but they weren’t as horrible. We turned the ball over once, on special teams, but the offense played well. I thought we ran the ball well and we didn’t make mistakes and just ate the clock. Because, you know, an offense like that, they’re run heavy and getting them behind (on) the scoreboard, kind of gets them out of their comfort zone.”

“Still things to get better on,” he added. “That’s good, you know, especially going to a tough league that we’re in.”

El Dorado (3-2) will host Orange (5-0) next week to begin Delta League play.

The Golden Hawks opened up the scoring on their second drive of the game when Shaddow hit Luke Tucker for a 10-yard TD pass that made it 6-0 after a failed 2-point attempt.

The Warriors responded by tying the game on the final play of the first quarter when Riley Billington broke several tackles on his way to a 64-yard TD run.

Troy was also unsuccessful on a 2-point try, leaving the score 6-6.

The Warriors forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Jordan Williams recovered the ball at the El Dorado 30-yard line.

Billington added his second rushing touchdown of the game to make it 12-6 after another failed 2-point conversion.

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“I felt like we could never get a rhythm, at least on the offensive side …,” Troy coach Michael Echaves said. “So it was a bit frustrating. But, you know, credit to El Do. They played a great game. They made less mistakes and they did a great job. So yeah, frustrating to say the least, but we got to fix these things immediately.”

The Golden Hawks retook the lead, 13-12, on Karg’s TD pass to Shackleford in the second quarter and then Karg scored on an 8-yard TD catch in the third quarter. The score came after a fumble recovery by the punt coverage unit.

Troy (3-2) was on the verge of cutting the deficit late in the third quarter but its drive stalled at the El Dorado 8. Micah Cavalluzzi deflected Mason Mays’ fourth-down pass attempt.

“Every chance you get to score is critical,” Echaves said. “But, I mean, we had a great play call, and their guy (Cavalluzzi) made a great play to stop it. And just put us in a bad spot. That’s just a great play on them and they capitalized in that moment and we didn’t.”

Shaddow added his third TD pass of the night in the fourth quarter, a 52-yard strike to Karg, that LaMonda said was an audible.

“The deep touchdown pass, they checked (to),” LaMonda said. “That wasn’t the play I called. They hand checked it themselves, so kudos to them. They have the freedom to do that. But, you know, like I tell him, if you’re going to do it, you better convert it. And they did, but they have a great connection.”

LaMonda continued the praise of the versatile Karg.

“He’s just an athlete,” he said. “You know, the fact that he’s only got one offer is shocking to me. But, you know, it’ll come. He’s humble, he’s an athlete, and he’s a guy that will hopefully stay healthy, which he is, and can be a game changer for us in our favor. And through the course of the season and the playoffs, hopefully.”

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