PREP EXTRA / SATURDAY FOOTBALL PULLOUT : Sunny Hills Makes Mistakes, Loses to Troy

FULLERTON — One of the differences between winning and losing teams is, winners often overcome their mistakes, losers don’t.

Winning teams also have a player or two who can make up for things that are not happening. Such was the case Friday for Troy, which held back a stubborn but mistake-prone Sunny Hills team, 23-14, in front of an estimated 500 at Fullerton in the Freeway League opener for both teams.

Lifting the Warriors (5-1, 1-0) was running back Larry Montgomery, who totaled 160 yards in 27 carries and scored two touchdowns. The clincher was a 23-yard swirl in the fourth quarter, during which no fewer than four Lancer defenders thought they had a tackle lined up but missed.

A very sore tailbone that had to be iced constantly in the second half limited Montgomery to 56 yards in the final 24 minutes.

“It was a very physical ballgame,” said Troy Coach John Turek, who also lost kicker/receiver Eric Urban (rotator cuff) and back Chad Elliott (separated shoulder)--but not before Elliott had an interception to set up the Warriors’ first touchdown. “Defensively, though, we played great. And Larry carried us on offense.”

Sunny Hills (1-5, 0-1) did not get the same kind of support. Quarterback Greg Garand completed 11 of 25 passes for 128 yards. He was sacked twice and had two passes intercepted, both of which resulted in scores.

But Lancer Coach Tim Devaney seemed more aggravated at the 127 yards in penalties called on Sunny Hills. “Some of the calls were questionable and some we deserved,” he said. “All in all, it made for a very frustrating night on offense.”

Troy took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. After Elliott’s interception was returned to the Sunny Hills 32, Troy quarterback Kevin Gray found Jim Wise for a 14-yard touchdown pass.

But the Warriors unintentionally opened things up with their own faux pas. On the first play of the second quarter, a poor snap to punter Urban at the Troy 40 resulted in mad scramble over the next 20 yards. Dereck Cretz scooped up the ball at the 17 and ran it in for a touchdown.

On the Lancers’ next possession, Garand found Jeff Renaud all alone at the Troy 5, and the two hooked up for a 30-yard touchdown pass, giving the visitors a 14-7 lead.