ORANGE — Villa Park’s Nate Lewis once again showed why he might be the best all-around football player in Orange County this season, if not beyond.
The senior threw a 91-yard touchdown pass, kicked field goals of 46 and 33 yards and was a constant presence on defense from his safety position on Friday night, leading the Spartans to an 18-0 win against Mira Costa at El Modena High.
“Week in and week out, he’s doing something that makes himself stand out,” Villa Park coach Dusan Ancich said. “We’re lucky to have him.”
Lewis also takes kickoffs and returns punts for Villa Park (4-1), which had two weeks to prepare for Mira Costa (3-2) following its bye week.
“He’s just one of those guys, you want him to be your neighbor, you want him to be your son, and he’s fun to coach,” Ancich said. “We’ve got a great group but, obviously, he’s got the talent too.”
The Spartans marched down the field on their opening drive and scored on a 1-yard touchdown run by Ancich’s nephew, senior running back Dominic Ancich. Lewis then made his only miscue of the night, missing the point-after to keep the score 6-0.
Villa Park began its third drive on its own 10, but two plays later Lewis connected with junior wide receiver Luvie Clark on a post pattern and Clark finished off the 91-yard touchdown for a 12-0 lead with 7:27 left in the second quarter.
“We drew it up in practice,” Lewis said of the touchdown play. “They aligned just how we thought and good separation on that post route. He’s got some speed.”
Mira Costa’s best opportunity to score came late in the first half, but the Mustangs missed a 30-yard field goal with three seconds left.
Lewis then booted a lifetime-best 46-yard field goal on Villa Park’s first drive of the second half, extending the lead to 15-0. The kick was made more challenging because the Spartans were missing long snapper Jacob Poff, who suffered a shoulder injury during practice this week.
Ancich stepped in at long snapper without a hitch.
“Worked with him for maybe two days,” Lewis said of Ancich. “He stepped up really big.”
Villa Park forced its only turnover when Sean Byrnes intercepted a pass with 7:21 left in the game. That led to a 33-yard field goal by Lewis with 3:49 remaining, extending the lead to 18-0.
“Kicking a field goal is so hard in high school, especially without a long snapper,” Dusan Ancich said. “Those are college kicks. He’s got college level talent and he’s playing two ways, so you can see him, he’s catching his breath, going out there having to make these big kicks.”
In addition to the missed PAT, the Spartans also dropped a touchdown pass in the end zone in the first half, had a touchdown called back on a penalty and lost a fumble in the red zone at the end of a long run.
“We just had a hard time getting in a rhythm,” Dusan Ancich said. “We finished (a 57-13 win) at Ayala, where we kind of polished and cleaned, and then we take the week off. It just took a little while to get going. We succeeded here and there, it just wasn’t steady.”
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