Posted on 24 October 2015 by La Habra Journal
By Jason Burch
La Habra Journal
A monster first half from quarterback Eric Barriere was more than enough for La Habra, as the Highlanders coasted to a 62-13 victory over the Indians at Fullerton District Stadium Friday night. 
Barriere led the Highlanders on seven consecutive scoring drives to open the game, racking up 351 yards passing and seven touchdowns before halftime. The seven touchdowns tied a personal best, a feat he matched last season against Sonora.
“We wanted to establish the pass and show everybody that we can throw the ball,” Barriere said. “Part of the game plan was to get our receivers involved early.”
After four dropped passes to start the game, Barriere got into a rhythm, connecting on a 14-yard touchdown to Cortlin Taylor. Taylor and receiver Justin Sun each caught a pair of touchdown passes to help the Highlanders jump out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter.
“We started really slow, but I just kept feeding my receivers the ball and they picked it up for me,” Barriere said.
The Highlanders defense was equally impressive in the opening quarter, holding the Indians under 25 yards total offense.
Prince Ross had a big second quarter, catching touchdown passes of 36 and 54 yards. Ross finished with 119 yards, leading all receivers.
Amon Fellows finished with 77 yards receiving. Sun had 74 yards, all of them coming in the first quarter.
After eclipsing 200 yards on the ground the previous two weeks, La Habra Head Coach Frank Mazzotta said the team put a lot of work into preparing a game plan focused on passing this week.
“In practice we prepared for a seven-man front, which tells us to throw the ball, so that’s what the game plan was,” Mazzotta said. “[Fullerton] actually lined up with a pass defense, but we ended up coming out with our game plan and we wanted to keep going to it.”
With a 49-0 lead heading into the half, La Habra Head Coach Frank Mazzotta decided to sit his starters the rest of the way.
Sophomore quarterback Zach Fogel made the most of the opportunity, connecting on a 44-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Steven Gomez.
Dylan Nicholson ended the Indians scoring drought when he returned the second-half kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown.
The Highlanders (7-1, 3-0) will take on Sunny Hills (4-4, 0-3) next Friday at Spalding Stadium in Buena Park.
