Savanna Takes to the Air, Beats Valencia

PLACENTIA — Savanna Coach Fred Di Palma knew it would be tough to run through Valencia’s physical defense, so the Rebels threw over it.

Savanna quarterback Jeremy Klemp tossed three touchdown passes in the first half to help the Rebels, ranked 10th in Orange County, post a 28-7 victory over Valencia in an Orange League football game Thursday at Valencia High.

Klemp, who completed nine of 13 passes for 206 yards with one interception, connected on his first seven passes. Two completions were long touchdown passes to wide receiver Roy Myers.

“We were fortunate that we made some big plays,” Di Palma said. “Myers had a couple of big catches and he’s starting to come into his own.”

Myers’ first catch came on the fourth play from scrimmage for Savanna (6-1, 2-0 in league). With Valencia’s pass defense using tight coverage, Myers raced past the secondary and caught a 61-yard touchdown pass from Klemp only 1 minute 57 seconds into the game.

Valencia’s defense responded on the Rebels’ next possession, forcing Daven King to fumble and Mario Zavala recovered for the Tigers (1-5-1, 0-1-1) at the Savanna 47.

Valencia moved 47 yards in 10 plays and scored on a fourth and one from the Savanna six. Valencia quarterback Joe Secoda faked a handoff to Jermaine Gray, who rushed for 65 yards in 17 carries, and found a wide-open Chris Roussin in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown.

Secoda kicked the conversion for a 7-6 lead with 1:04 remaining in the first quarter, but that was Valencia’s last highlight.

Savanna answered with Klemp moving the Rebels on a seven-play, 52-yard scoring drive in 2:25, capping it with a six-yard touchdown pass to Eric Shine. Klemp scored the two-point conversion on a keeper to make the score 14-7.

On Savanna’s next possession, Myers caught a 49-yard touchdown pass from Klemp to make it 20-7 at halftime.

Valencia kept it close by shutting down Savanna’s potent running attack for the first half, limiting the Rebels to 40 yards rushing.

“We knew it was going to be tough running against Valencia because their defense is so physical,” Di Palma said.

King, who rushed for 65 yards in 14 carries, broke loose in the second-half scoring on a 28-yard touchdown run on Savanna’s first possession of the third quarter.