Irvine, CA — The University High School Trojans improved to 1-2 on the season with a 13-6 home victory over the 2-1 Estancia Eagles Thursday night. Due to several key injuries, Uni employed a two-quarterback platoon allowing regular quarterback / athlete Justin Tribble to also play wide receiver and defensive back. In his first varsity start, Sophomore Dylan Elmer threw for 155 yards and his third successive game with a touchdown pass. Elmer drove Uni down the field on a 12-play, six-minute, 75-yard drive culminating in a 16-yard scoring strike to Junior wide receiver Cruz McMullens. The Trojans never trailed in the game thanks to an extremely effective defense. Uni forced five turnovers (four recovered fumbles and an interception), only allowed two of 10 third down conversions, stopped Estancia twice on fourth down and only allowed the Eagles just inside the red zone once. The Trojans controlled the ball for nearly 34 minutes while the Eagles only had the ball for 14 minutes. Uni had two more scoring drives in the first half both resulting in two second quarter field goals by Junior Jake Rabold. The first was from 27 yards and the second was from 40 yards as time expired, with enough leg that it could possibly have been good from 50 yards. With Uni leading 13-0 entering the third quarter, Junior Brandon Bettinghausen took the kickoff 90 yards down the left sideline to the house cutting the score to 13-6 with the extra point missing wide right. Bettinghausen returned three kickoffs for 150 yards. There would be no more scoring in the game. Thus, the Uni defense pitched a shutout. In addition to the above accolades, the Trojans held Junior running back Jeff Brown well below his 175 yards per game average. The Eagles had just 110 yards on the ground and were just four for 14 for eight yards passing. The longest pass play went for three yards. Elmer was 13-23 for 155 yards and Senior Tribble was 3-3 for 21 yards for the Uni aerial attack. McMullens had four catches for 56 yards. Tribble had a pair of catches for 41 yards. Senior Carl Oldham had six catches for 39 yards. Four other Uni players had one reception: Jacob Najar (16 yards), Geoff Soriano (10 yards), Alex Yousef (4 yards) and Borna Sharafkhanian (0 yards). The Trojans picked up 63 yards on the ground. Zion Barreto led the way with seven carries for 24 yards. Also contributing were Najar (11-17), Sharafkhanian (6-8), Tribble (11-7) and Elmer (1-7). The defense really came up big. Preliminary analysis yielded the following. Junior Max Encheff had seven tackles including a sack and a TFL, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Oldham had four tackles including a sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception returned for 23 yards. Oldham had 93 all-purpose yards. Junior Lucas Thune had three tackles including two TFLs, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Soriano had three tackles including a TFL. Sophomore Pierce Fournier, Junior Adham Osman, Junior Luke Emrich and Senior Michael Gasper each had three tackles. McMullens had a pair of tackles and three pass break-ups. Tribble had a pair of tackles and a pass break-up. Junior Lucca Clouthier had a tackle, a pass break-up and a fumble recovery. Penalties were fairly even with Uni guilty of seven flags for 55 yards while Estancia had six for 62. Uni’s defense, clock control and offensive efficiency rewarded the Trojans with the victory. Uni converted eight of 18 third down conversions, was 2-2 on fourth down and put points on the board three of four times in the red zone. With the big win, Coach Vince Mesa earned his tenth victory at University. Thx to Randy Kunin for spotting. Not including my report, three reporters were covering the game: Tim Burt from OCSportsZone, Martin Henderson for the OC Register and Scott French for the Daily Pilot. What was up with that? Did they know something? Did they know about our hospitality with Boosters providing complimentary food and beverages? Is it the welcoming environment that the regulars provide? Article courtesy of Daryl Bogard