LAGUNA BEACH — Dana Hills’ offense was laboring through much of the first half and had trouble moving the ball against Laguna Beach.
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Enter Caden Marquis.
The backup quarterback engineered scoring drives on his first three possessions and led the Dolphins to a 31-7 win Friday in a Delta League game at Laguna Beach High.
Marquis had appeared in six games for Dana Hills (7-1, 2-1) this season, but only in the second half of blowout wins where the game was already decided.
The sophomore replaced quarterback Carter Anderson, who entered Friday as the eighth leading passer in Orange County with 210 yards per game with 18 touchdowns.
Anderson threw for 31 yards on six completions Friday, but coach Tony Henney felt the offense needed a spark.
“We just felt Caden with his athleticism would give us a spark,” Henney said. “We still love Carter. He’s our quarterback, we just needed to try to find a spark. Hats off to Caden. He got the team going with a couple of big plays.”
“I just trusted what I did in practice,” Marquis said. “I have a great team around me, great linemen and great receivers. I was fired up. I’ve been waiting for a chance to get in and make the most of it.”
Laguna Beach (4-4, 1-2) held Dana Hills to 33 yards of total offense and just two yards rushing prior to Marquis entering the game.
“Hats off to Laguna Beach’s defense. They are very good,” Henney said. “We had problems most the night moving the ball.”
Marquis entered the game late in the first half for the Dolphins when they trailed 7-3. He led Dana Hills on a 4-play, 78-yard scoring drive capped by a 46-yard touchdown run by Enzo Gallo to give the Dolphins a 10-7 lead.
The sophomore quarterback scrambled for a 34-yard run on the play prior to the touchdown which woke up Dana Hills’ sidelines and its crowd.
Just before halftime, Marquis had another 34-yard run and completed a 37-yard pass to set up his 1-yard touchdown run.
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On the second play of the second half, Marquis threw a 74-yard touchdown pass to Jack Norman to extend Dana Hills’ lead to 24-7.
Marquis completed 4 of 5 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown and ran for 59 yards on six attempts. Gallo, who averaged 104 rushing yards per game entering Friday, ran for 63 yards on 13 carries with two touchdowns.
Dana Hills’ defense held Laguna Beach to 169 yards of offense and had eight plays where the Breakers were tackled behind the line of scrimmage.
Noah Carter had two sacks for Dana Hills and London Getz returned an interception 90 yards for a touchdown in the second half.
Laguna Beach scored its lone points on a 1-yard touchdown run from freshman quarterback Braden Hansen which gave the Breakers a 7-3 lead in the second quarter. On the previous play, Hansen threw a 34-yard pass to James Nugent on a 4th-and-2.
Hansen threw for 100 yards in his second start after replacing senior Jack Hurst, who is sidelined with a knee injury. Bob Gardner had 46 yards rushing and Boise State commit Grayson Kazmouz had a sack.
It was a nice bounce back win for Dana Hills, who suffered its first loss of the season last week to Huntington Beach.
“I told the guys that how we respond from that loss is how we will be judged,” Henney said. “It was a great response. We had a lot of energy. Some things didn’t go our way but we made plays when we needed to, which we didn’t do last week.”
Henney said prior to the game that there were doubts the game would be played due to the Norte fire. He said the Dana Hills campus was blanketed with smoke this afternoon and appeared to be heading north toward Laguna Beach, but the wind reversed course and the coaches agreed to play the game.
Laguna Beach coach John Shanahan said the Breakers were willing to postpone until Saturday if needed, but ultimately decided to play the game as scheduled.
Dana Hills will host El Modena next Friday, Oct. 23. El Modena is tied with Dana Hills for second in the Delta League standings with 2-1 records.
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