Laguna Beach tops Calvary Chapel behind Jack Arntz’s four rushing touchdowns
Health has not always been on the side of the Laguna Beach High School football team this season, but so far, the Breakers have managed.
A career game for Jack Arntz, the Breakers’ third-string running back, is evidence that the Breakers have taken the next-man-up mentality to heart.
Arntz rushed for 187 yards and four touchdowns, leading Laguna Beach to a 42-7 win over Calvary Chapel on Friday in a nonleague game at Guyer Field.
“It was a team win,” Arntz said. “Our line fought their [butts] off. I had huge gaps to run the ball all night, so really, it was a team effort. The line was outstanding tonight.”
In what was projected to be a shootout, the Breakers’ defense put that storyline to bed early. Following an opening drive touchdown, Laguna Beach (5-1) forced a turnover on downs near midfield the first time the Eagles had the ball.
David Dworakowski provided the pressure and got the hit on Calvary Chapel quarterback Ian Capuano to force the incompletion.
Three plays later, Laguna Beach was back in the end zone again, this time on a 40-yard touchdown pass by Will Bingham to Jacob Diver, who capped his night with three catches for 53 yards and two touchdowns.
“I feel like I can rely on every throw,” Diver said of his connection with Bingham. “Every throw is going to be that ball that I’m able to catch. It’s never a ball really overthrown, really underthrown. It’s always good deliverance.”
Arntz had four touchdowns before halftime, at which time the Breakers led 35-7. All of them were from no more than seven yards out.
The longest gain of the game for Arntz came on his first carry, a 49-yard run on which he was caught from behind.
Laguna Beach coach John Shanahan was impressed by the offensive output when told that Arntz, while he did not showcase breakaway speed, topped 200 total yards. He also had two receptions for 24 yards.
“I’d have never bet that he would get anywhere close to that,” Shanahan said of Arntz. “You know, he’s our third running back … He’s just done a great job. He’s accountable.
“That’s the kind of human being he is. You can always count on him to do the right thing, be in the right spot, say the right thing. That’s impressive tonight.”
Nick Rogers and Bella Rasmussen each finished with 22 rushing yards, receiving a large portion of their respective workloads in the second half.
Dworakowski made three catches for 50 yards and also recorded a sack. Ryner Swanson made two catches for 31 yards, and Aidan Moss had two grabs for 23 yards.
Capuano was able to get on track late in the second quarter. He had a 33-yard completion to Jackson Pellkofer. That, combined with a roughing-the-passer penalty, got Calvary Chapel down to the Laguna Beach 20.
The drive ended with Capuano finding Court Franklin in the right corner for a one-yard touchdown.
Calvary Chapel (4-1) averaged 48 points per game entering the contest. Eagles coach Pat McInally said he felt that it will take three wins in Orange Coast League play for his team to make the postseason.
“We’ve got to do our best, so hopefully just give a little more resistance to Santa Ana than we did this week, so we have to play better,” McInally said. “We just need to play a good game. Our goal is the playoffs, and obviously we’re not going to play anyone like Santa Ana in the playoffs.
“Laguna was a good test. That was a playoff team, and we just didn’t have a good night.”
Nonleague
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Calvary Chapel 0 - 7 - 0 - 0 — 7
Laguna Beach 14 - 21 - 7 - 0 — 42
FIRST QUARTER
LB – Arntz 7 run (Molteni kick), 10:14.
LB – Diver 40 pass from Bingham (Molteni kick), 4:41.
SECOND QUARTER
LB – Arntz 2 run (Molteni kick), 11:55.
LB – Arntz 6 run (Molteni kick), 3:33.
CC – Franklin 1 pass from Capuano (Molteni kick), 2:22.
LB – Arntz 3 run (Molteni kick), 0:22.
THIRD QUARTER
LB – Diver 9 pass from Bingham (Molteni kick), 4:05.
FOURTH QUARTER
None.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
CC – Sparks, 4-19.
LB – Arntz, 21-187, 4 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
CC – Capuano, 11-25-0, 101, 1 TD.
LB – Bingham, 12-17, 167, 2 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
CC – Franklin, 5-32, 1 TD.
LB – Diver, 2-53, 2 TDs; Dworakowski, 3-50.
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