Northern Section: Orland grinds up Durham in battle of the unbeatens

DURHAM, Calif. — Orland stuck to its ground-and-pound attack en route to a 52-14 defeat of Durham in Orland Friday night.

It was a battle of two undefeated teams who both started their seasons 4-0, but strength of schedule and the divisions in which both schools play in was evident. 

Orland’s offense scored on each of its possessions until halfway through the fourth quarter, when Diego Rico made a 21-yard field goal with 7:37 left. Orland QB Grant Foster continued to shine. Foster entered 5-of-14 passing for 94 yards, but went 3-of-3 to three different receivers for 125 yards and one TD. 

Foster also entered with 681 yards rushing and seven TDs, and tacked on to those numbers by rushing for 85 yards and two more TDs. 

OHS combined for 309 yards rushing and six TDs. Orland got off to a hot start and dug Durham into a 42-0 hole at halftime.

Both teams will begin their league schedules next week.

“I love the way we came out. We talked about not having a slow start, we've had a few games where we've kind of got off to a slow start and tonight it was the opposite," said Orland head coach Nick Velazquez. "We jumped up 21-0 and when our offense can roll that way, we've got a good D here, so when we can do those two things we got a shot every week.”

Takeaways

• Orland’s depth at running back continued to shine. The Trojans entered with five players with rushing TDs, and two more runners scored Friday.
• Foster proved he's more than just a rusher. 
• Orland’s offense came out strong from the start for the second straight time this season with 42 first half points. The Trojans scored 33 first half points last week against Willows, after 30 first half points in their first three games combined.
• Orland’s defense was once again strong. Durham scored twice late in the game with OHS backups in on both possessions.
• Both teams struggled with discipline. Durham had false start and offsides called against them, while Orland had multiple late hits called on its defenders.
• Durham RB Gavin Keene is a key target for QB Ryan Doyle, but the Orland defensive line dominated the Durham line.
• Durham had an easy start to its nonleague schedule, but will get another tough opponent in 4-1 East Nicolaus next week. Orland expects a multitude of players to play next week against winless Oroville.

Scoring plays

• Q1, 11:09 | O — Foster 58-yard pass to Alex Martinez, PAT good. OHS 7, DHS 0.
• Q1, 6:03 | O — Albarran 20-yard run, PAT good. OHS 14, DHS 0.
• Q2, 10:40 | O — Foster 4-yard run, PAT good. OHS 21, DHS 0.
• Q2, 8:06 | O — Dominguez 1-yard run, PAT blocked. OHS 27, DHS 0.
• Q2, 4:17 | O — Rico 5-yard run, Albarran 2-pt run good. OHS 35, DHS 0.
• Q2, :07 | O — Foster 1-yard run, PAT good. OHS 42, DHS 0.
• Q3, 6:08 | O — Rico 17-yard run, PAT good. OHS 49, DHS 0.
• Q3, 0:27 | D — Ryan Doyle 8-yard pass to Gavin Keene, PAT good. OHS 49, DHS 7.
• Q4, 7:37 | O — Rico 21-yard field goal. OHS 52, DHS 7.
• Q4, 2:16 | D — Andrew King 3-yard run, PAT good. OHS 52, DHS 14.

Up next

Orland at Oroville, 7:30 p.m. Friday; Durham at East Nicolaus, 7 p.m. Friday.