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FULLERTON — During its run to a CIF San Diego Section tile and spot in the state championship game, El Capitan High School showed it was one of the hottest football teams in the state.
On Friday night at Fullerton Union High School District Stadium, the Vaqueros ran into someone even hotter.
Carmel High School scored the final 41 points on the way to a 48-7 win over El Capitan in the 5-AA state championship game. The win improved the Padres to 15-0 this season; they’ve won 25 of 26 games dating to 2023.
El Cap finishes the season 11-4. The Vaqueros had won 10 in a row before Friday night. It was their first state championship game appearance in 10 years.
Carmel was led by running back Ashton Rees, who rushed 25 times for 213 yards and three touchdowns, including a 77-yarder, and caught two passes for 28 yards and a score. The Padres rushed for 230 yards as a team, part of a 539-yard offensive performance. It was more of the same from a program that entered Friday’s game averaging 45 points per game.
Rees ran behind Jackson Lloyd, a 6-foot-7, 290-pound two-way lineman who is headed for the University of Alabama. Lloyd was a disrupter all night, clearing running lanes on offense and blowing up El Capitan’s backfield on defense. Vaqueros quarterback Brandt Barker was harassed by Carmel’s defense all night, and completed just 10 of 26 passes for 113 yards. Carmel intercepted him four times and recovered an El Cap fumble.
Barker entered the game having thrown for more than 2,500 yards on the season; he was intercepted just five times before Friday.
El Cap’s lone touchdown came on Brody Copp’s 6-yard run early in the second quarter quarter. The score tied the game 7 but effectively marked the end of El Cap’s night. Carmel scored four touchdowns in the second quarter alone, took a 28-point lead into halftime and tacked on two more TDs in the second half.
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