LAKE FOREST — No fear. That’s the attitude that the Troy football team had when it stepped onto the field Friday at El Toro High. And their play matched their attitude.
What’s to fear when you can barrel through a defensive line – seemingly at will?
Playing the role of predator from the outset, Ethan Mundt scored six touchdowns on six consecutive drives as Troy completed its destruction of the Iota League with a 42-24 victory over El Toro.
“Our motto is rise and rise again until lambs become lions,” Coach Mike Echaves said after guiding Troy to its second league title in a row. “These guys push – we wanted to push in all areas. We’re kids and we make mistakes but we’re slowly becoming men and fighting hard.”
The victory gave Troy – 9-1 overall, 5-0 in league, No. 23 in the Orange County Top 25 – its second consecutive league title. But this one was clearly special.
“Sharing the Freeway League title three ways last year was anticlimactic,” said Mundt, a bruising junior who scored on runs of 14, 15, 3, 2, 13, and 6 yards.
He ran through the Chargers defense the way Charles Barkley bullied his way to the basket. The round mound of touchdowns basically dunked at will.
“I like Charles Barkley,” Mundt said, embracing the compliment.
“He is very unorthodox in regards to his style, but that’s what makes him so special,” said Echaves, who is in his eighth season at Troy. “Moreover, just an amazing young man, about as humble as you can get, but a fierce competitor. We thought he was kinda banged up so we pulled him out of the game and he was upset. We didn’t know he could get that mad, but in such a great way. Love the kid.”
Running mad, running without fear, running like he owned the field, Mundt carried 20 times for 189 yards. Coaches couldn’t recall afterward if the six touchdowns were a school record, but an outright record was unlikely given the legacy of Derrick Coleman’s years at Troy.
But six TDs was half of what Mundt had before he began his onslaught behind an offensive line that featured, left to right, Daniel Aguirre, CJ Ornelas, Gavin Gomez, Steven Logwood, and Joseph Gonzales.
“The offensive line was destroying them the whole time,” Mundt said. “They made it easy for me.”
It’s not like the Chargers (5-5, 3-2) weren’t game, but they were clearly overmatched. One of their biggest moments came on Troy’s first drive. The Chargers got a stop as Nacho Gonzales stuffed Caleb Huss for a 1-yard loss on fourth-and-3 at Troy’s 26-yard line.
That’s the lack of fear that Troy showed. They gave up the ball practically in their own red zone. They surrendered a 42-yard field goal to Gianluca D’Amato, but they were unfazed, undaunted and unstoppable.
Troy scored on its next six possessions. The seventh? They lost a fumble on a bad snap from the El Toro 7.
The eighth? They drove from their 18 to the El Toro 6 before going into victory formation on first-and-goal with about 2 minutes left in the game.
“El Toro is a great team and Coach (Peter) Lofthouse is going to build a superior program here in time,” Echaves said. “He’s got the foundation, for sure. He’s got a good squad. This was a great game for us to have heading into the playoffs.”
Troy will be the No. 1 team from the Iota League in the CIF-SS playoffs. El Toro was hoping to get a piece of the league title; instead, the Chargers will go into the playoffs as the No. 3 team from the league.
“The expectations for our team – from themselves – is so high at times, and it was good for them to put their heads to the grindstone and just keep going,” Echaves said. “There were times when it was hairy for us, where we risked losing the championship, and our boys just kept going. Super proud of them.”
That moment of hairiness was short-lived. Troy led 28-10, but with two seconds left in the first half, El Toro’s Luke Doyle took a screen pass over the middle 49 yards for a touchdown and a 28-17 score.
Then Troy got the ball to open the third quarter and picked up where it left off. Four plays, 51 yards, Mundt scoring from 13.
The domination wasn’t solely Mundt’s. Huss carried 10 times for 100 yards, Vander Ploog carried six times for 67, and Charles Rippon five times for 64. Rudy Alcala completed 11 of 16 passes for 132 yards.
All told, Troy outgained El Toro, 534-231.
El Toro’s Jack McKelvey passed for 206 yards on 17-of-32 passing, including touchdowns of 49 yards to Doyle and 21 to Noah Williams. Doyle caught 11 passes for 144 yards. McKelvey also threw one interception – in the end zone.
“That’s a hell of a squad,” Lofthouse said of Troy. “They’re really good at what they do. They run well, they pass, they manage the clock. They’re very explosive. Pick your poison. We knew if we were going to have an opportunity to beat them it would have to be a shootout.
“They’re going to make a run in D6.”
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