JSerra puts together another strong effort

MISSION VIEJO - Junior Tyler Shirozono rushed for three touchdowns and Jonavaughn Williams caught two TD passes and had an interception as JSerra scored a 36-7 nonleague victory over El Modena on Thursday at Saddleback College.

The Lions (3-0) won their eighth consecutive nonleague game after going 1-4 in 2007, Coach Jim Hartigan’s first year.

With Bobby Brown running the option offense, Shirozono and fullback Samir Hanna rushed for 139 and 98 yards respectively.

"We started four guys on the offensive line last year who were sophomores," Hartigan said. "This year, they’re juniors."

"We’re bigger, stronger and faster than last year."

Those junior linemen, Bo Goldschmied, Jonathan Schaefer, Cody Dean and Hayden Cornwell, helped open up holes for Shirozono, Hanna and Brown.

Shirozono scored on carries of 3, 22 and 35 yards, the last with 2 minutes 5 seconds remaining. The Lions led at halftime, 14-7.

Brown carried four times for 41 yards before giving way midway through the fourth quarter. He completed seven of 12 passes for 136 yards with his scoring strikes covering 6 and 35 yards to Williams.

Williams returned an interception 55 yards for an apparent touchdown, but the bulk of the yardage was nullified by a penalty.

JSerra failed a couple of times inside the 20-yard line, but it was still a good night for the Lions, who play Pacifica next.

El Modena (1-2) tied the score at 7-7 with 1:56 left in the half on a 17-yard TD run by Patrick Zurbuchen.