Highland knocks off No. 1 Muir

PASADENA — The No. 16-seeded Highland football team knocked off No. 1-seeded Muir in dominant fashion, 40-7, in the opening round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 8 playoffs on Friday.

Highland coach Richard Lear said he was proud of his team for not only defeating the No. 1 seed, but doing it in dominant fashion.

“We’re just playing lights out football right now,” he said.

Quillan Newsome returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown and, after a two-point conversion, the Bulldogs led 8-0 and never looked back.

Highland did have three turnovers in the first half, but still went into the break leading 16-7.

In the second half, the Bulldogs used the double wing bunch on offense and used their one-way players to wear down Muir’s two-way players.

“We just physically took it to these guys,” Lear said.

The defense also held strong throughout the night as they recorded four sacks — at least two by Eli Dagher — a fumble recovery and two safeties.

“Defense all night played lights out,” Lear said. “We brought the pressure on these guys and they did not handle it well.”

Sophomore linebacker Adonte Medley played well on defense and got in on the double wing on offense, scoring his first touchdown on a 4-yard score.

“Adante Medley made several big plays and scored on the double wing,” Lear said. “We’re proud of him.”

Brandon Johnson scored touchdown runs of 4 and 5 yards for the Bulldogs, while Newsome added a 13-yard run to cap off the scoring.

Highland plays host to California in the second round next week.

“Hopefully we can keep this rolling,” Lear said. VENTURA — The Antelope Valley College men’s basketball team won its second straight game to open the season, defeating Moorpark 80-56 on Friday night at the Ventura We Play Hard Tournament.

It was the second straight night the Marauders (2-0) have held their opponent to under 60 points, allowing just 49 to Victor Valley on Thursday.

AVC held Moorpark to 34% shooting and outrebounded the Raiders 40-30.

“We did a good job defensively,” AVC coach John Taylor said.

Starting point guard Jonathan Daniels led the Marauders with 16 points, adding five assists and four rebounds, while Virgil Mahoney scored 13 points, going 3-for-4 from behind the 3-point arc, and pulled down six rebounds.

Da’jour Lewis added 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

The Marauders play Ventura at 2 p.m. today to close out the round-robin tournament.

Ventura is also 2-0, defeating Pasadena City 78-37 and Victor Valley 90-50.