Mmmm Bop! Hanson’s Got Some Kick

The best kicker you probably haven’t heard about might be Matt Hanson of Fountain Valley.

Hanson has only five field goals this season, but made a name for himself Thursday night by booting a 50-yard field goal in the Barons’ 34-27 victory over top-ranked Los Alamitos.

The long attempt, a career-best for Hanson, sailed high and straight and cleared the crossbar by at least 10 yards. It gave Fountain Valley a 10-7 lead.

He easily made a 29-yarder in the third quarter, helping the Barons take control with a 27-17 lead. He made all four the extra-point kicks he attempted and put two kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks.

“He’s a good athlete,” Baron Coach Eric Johnson said. “He doesn’t have the recognition, but he kicks them 57 yards in practice regularly.”

Hanson, a senior who chose not to play football in 1998, missed three field goals in a 13-0 loss to Trabuco Hills earlier this season, but Johnson said that was an aberration.

“It was kind of strange that night,” Johnson said. “He had this thing where he was missing left. But he’s got the leg strength.”

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Los Angeles Palisades quarterback David Koral broke the state record for passing yards in a game Friday by completing 46 of 51 passes for 583 yards and eight touchdowns in a 61-6 Western League victory over Fairfax at Fairfax.

Koral, a junior who played the entire game, utilized 22 shovel passes to break the record of 564 yards set by Doug Baughman of Bolsa Grande in 1996 against La Quinta. Koral also tied the record of 46 completions in a game set by Perry Klein of Palisades in 1987 against L.A. Jordan. Klein also completed 22 shovel passes in that game.

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Old Glory was flying for the first time this season at a Dana Hills home game on Friday, when the Dolphins played host to San Clemente. When the school installed its new scoreboard, the flagpole was laid to the side “with other miscellaneous poles and sticks and things,” said Vice Principal David Schlessinger. And it continued to lie there.

“Everyone was admiring the scoreboard, and no one realized until the “Star Spangled Banner” that there was no star-spangled banner up there,” Schlessinger said. “As soon as it was brought to my attention, I personally put in a work order.”

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With a 26-yard rumble on an inside reverse Friday, San Clemente senior halfback James Allen broke the school’s all-time rushing record of Allan Vaughan, who ran for 2,777 yards in 1994-95.

Allen’s record-breaking run came on the last play of the first quarter and gave him 68 yards in his first eight carries and a career total of 2,792 yards. He finished with 130 yards and a touchdown in 19 carries in the Tritons’ 10-7 victory over Dana Hills.

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Servite Coach Larry Toner is as eager as anybody to end the football team’s winless streak against Mater Dei. But Toner said he didn’t spend any time this week talking about the streak or looking for any extra motivation for his players.

“I don’t want us living in the past,” Toner said. “Anything you did in the past is not germane to the game you’re playing today.

“The past is good to learn from, but it does not--and should not--control the present, either negatively or positively.”

Servite was unable to end the streak Thursday, losing 39-25. The Monarchs are 10-0-1 against the Friars since losing in 1988.