Villa Park has close win over Damien

Spartans junior Dylan Bonilla intercepted two passes in the fourth quarter and hauled in a 90-yard touchdown reception with 1:56 remaining to lead Villa Park (1-0) to a close win over Damien (2-1) at Skippa Diaz Stadium.

The Monarchs trailed 7-6 in the fourth quarter when quarterback Marcus Faufata-Pedrina threw a deep ball inside the 10 that was caught by both Lindon Sevilleja and Bonilla. Bonilla got two hands under the ball with Sevilleja on top and was credited with the interception with less than four minutes to go.

Villa Park took over on its own 8 and was facing third-and-8 when 6-foot-5 quarterback Paul Piferi hit Bonilla in stride over the middle for the score.

“We thought the play was going to be there all day and our quarterback, if we could just get him out of the pocket, we wanted to roll the dice and go for that,” Villa Park coach Dusan Ancich said.

Damien got the ball back one more time trailing by eight and drove into Villa Park territory before Bonilla intercepted Faufata-Pedrina again.

Bonilla finished with nine receptions for 157 yards and two scores in addition to his stellar play on defense.

Faufata-Pedrina was 17-for-29 for 237 yards and threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Akila Arecchi to cap a nine-play, 61-yard drive that took more than six minutes to start the second half.

“It’s frustrating knowing we had the game. We were right there in it,” Damien coach Eddie Klaneski said.

The Spartans are the seven-time defending 3A Crestview League champions in Orange County.

Click here to see more photos of the game between Damien and Villa Park.