Villa Park survives La Habra's rally

LA HABRA — Villa Park built a 22-7 halftime lead on Friday night. It needed every point of it.

La Habra came all the way back into it in the second half, and the Spartans held on for a 36-33 Bravo League win, ending the Highlanders’ six-game home winning streak. Ben Hannah’s 28-yard touchdown catch with 8:14 to play kept the Spartans in front.

The night belonged to a sophomore. Jacob Titchenal completed 24 of 33 passes for 338 yards, including two stretches of five straight completions, one week after what his coach called a big first game.

“He got calm, threw the hell out of the ball,” Villa Park coach Dusan Ancich told the Orange County Register.

Hannah was Titchenal’s favorite target all night, finishing with 12 catches for 141 yards. Junior running back Coy Collins scored three touchdowns.

The first half

Collins opened the scoring with a 7-yard run at the end of an 11-play drive. La Habra needed two plays to answer, with DJ Mitchell hitting CJ Dickerson for a 68-yard touchdown.

Collins broke a 59-yard run to put Villa Park back in front, and the Spartans got a gift on the ensuing kickoff. La Habra fumbled the return, and Trevor Kalma scooped it up and went 7 yards for a touchdown. Dalton Lang closed the half with a 48-yard field goal, and it was 22-7.

The comeback that came up short

Mitchell is the reason La Habra didn’t go quietly. He threw for 312 yards on 13-of-21 passing, with a touchdown and an interception, and kept plays alive with his legs. Dickerson finished with four catches for 110 yards.

“DJ is special,” La Habra coach Frank Mazzotta said.

It was Villa Park’s first win over La Habra in at least four meetings. The Highlanders had won the last three, the most recent in the 2015 CIF Southern Section semifinals.

Villa Park (6-1, 1-1 Bravo) has won five straight on the road. It plays Tustin on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 5 p.m., at SoFi Stadium. La Habra (5-2, 0-2) gets Crean Lutheran on Friday.