Sports
Football: Manning Passes El Toro to 54-30 Playoff Victory Over Esperanza
Chargers, who finished as Sea View League champions, dominate the Aztecs, who finished fourth in the Century League, at Trabuco Hills High.
Conner Manning completed 31 of 40 passes Friday night at Trabuco Hills High for 422 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.
All in a day's work for El Toro's junior quarterback, who led the Chargers past Esperanza, 54-30, in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division playoffs.
El Toro (10-1) will play host to Yorba Linda (10-1) in the quarterfinals a day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 25, again at Trabuco Hills High.
"It feels great," Manning said. "That first win in [the playoffs] always feels great. But we got Yorba Linda next."
Friday night's first-round game was billed as a potential shootout and neither side disappointed, as the Chargers and Aztecs combined for 1,071 yards of total offense, including 11 touchdowns and three field goals.
Both tailbacks Jacob Furnari (30 carries, 200 yards, two touchdowns) for El Toro and Troy Poole (26 carries, 195 yards, one touchdown) for Esperanza dazzled out of the backfield, running around and through opponents seemingly at will.
Furnari scored on an eye-popping run of 41 yards and added a three-yard plunge, while Poole broke loose on a bruising, 28-yard scamper that made it 47-30 with six minutes left to play.
But for all of the success both sides had running the football, the methodically brilliant aerial display put on by Manning and his cadre of lanky, sure-handed wideouts stole the show.
After Roger Howard capped a 16-play drive to the open the contest with the first of two field goals he would put through the uprights, Manning found Alec Shoffeitt from 37 yards out to make it 10-0 at the end of the first quarter.
"The line did a great job of protecting all night," Manning said. "The receivers were making plays, so I just threw it up to them."
El Toro forced Esperanza's third-straight three-and-out on the Aztecs' ensuing possession, then Manning made it 17-0 on his next throw, a 69-yard fade-route up the left sideline to Dominic Collins.
Not to be outdone, Esperanza quarterback Mark Tumlinson countered with a 78-yard touchdown pass play on a post to Nick Catalano only two plays later, but Manning had plenty more tricks up his sleeve and drove the Chargers to the Aztecs' three before Howard booted a field goal as the first-half clock expired.
"Esperanza came to play tonight," El Toro coach Rob Frith said. "They're a very good team, and we were not going to overlook them at all. We knew they would be explosive."
Down 27-10 coming out of the locker room, the Aztecs wasted little time in making a game of it.
Poole ripped off back-to-back runs of 24 yards, setting up a three-yard connection between Tumlinson (13-of-23, 240 yards, 3 TD, INT) and Nate Rodriguez, then, after Furnari made it 34-17 with his second score midway through the third quarter, Esperanza pulled to within 10 again when Tumlinson found a streaking Catalano for a 33-yard score.
"[The Aztecs] played their hearts out, but, what are they going to do?" Manning asked rhetorically. "Good luck to them next year. They played a hell of a game."
Manning simply took over down the stretch, finding Cody White from nine yards out to make it 41-24 at the end of the third quarter, then after Esperanza fumbled its kickoff return, Manning found Collins from 18 yards away for the wideout's second touchdown and a 47-24 lead only seconds into the fourth quarter.
"Conner is a special quarterback," Frith said. "With him it's like having another coach on the field, he directs the offense. But he works hard, and this is what you get when you put in work like that. It was his best game of the year. I just can't say enough about how proud I am of him, our offensive coordinator, and our team as a whole."
Manning (31-of-40) found Austin White on a jump-ball fade with 1:28 left for his fifth touchdown and the finishing touches on a masterful performance.
"Yeah, I feel like we are [hitting our stride offensively]," Manning said. "Especially through league, we progressed a lot. Right now, we're at the top of the peak. So we have to keep it up."
Kickoff between El Toro and Yorba Linda is scheduled for 7 p.m.
GAME STATISTICS
                              1    2    3    4  --  T
Esperanza            0  10  14   6  --  30  Â
El Toro                   10 17  14  13  --  54
                                   E               ET
First Downs                 12              28
Rushing Yards            199            210
Passing Yards             240            422
Total Net Yards           439            632
Turnovers                     2               1
Penalties-Yards          3-20           6-60
SCORING
1st Quarter
ET -- Roger Howard 25 field goal, 7:06
ET -- Alec Shoffeitt 37 pass from Conner Manning; Howard kick, :28
2nd Quarter
ET -- Dominic Collins 69 pass from Manning; Howard kick, 11:26
E -- Dave Vasquez 28 field goal, 6:19
ET -- Jacob Furnari 41 run; Howard kick, 5:48
E -- Nick Catalano 73 pass from Mark Tumlinson; Vasquez kick, 4:54
ET -- Howard 22 field goal, :00
3rd Quarter
E -- Nate Rodriguez 3 pass from Tumlinson; Vasquez kick, 9:35
ET -- Furnari 3 run; Howard kick, 6:27
E -- Catalano 33 pass from Tumlinson; Vasquez kick, 3:16
ET -- Cody White 9 pass from Manning; Howard kick, :44
4th Quarter
ET -- Collins 18 pass from Manning; kick blocked, 11:54
E -- Troy Poole 28 run; 2-point conversion failed, 6:17
ET -- Austin White 17 pass from Manning; Howard kick, 1:28
