Wilkerson part of a strong Tustin effort
TUSTIN — It was just another day at the office for Anthony Wilkerson and the Tustin offense.
The Stanford-bound running back rushed for 293 yards and four touchdowns as the Tillers rolled past El Modena, 54-0, in a Century league game Friday night at Tustin High.
“We haven’t played a complete game since our game against Western,” Tustin coach Myron Miller. “Tonight we put together four good quarters of football.”
The Tillers (7-1, 3-0) compiled 562 total yards of offense, 449 yards coming on the ground.
“We had to have a few guys step in on the offensive line tonight,” Wilkerson said. “We started off a little slow, but once we started to jell, I was able to get into a rhythm.”
Wilkerson had TD runs of 4 and 7 yards in the first half, as Tustin outgained the Vanguards 318 yards to 100. Nick Di Maio’s 24-yard TD strike to Romel Lilly with four seconds left in the second quarter gave the Tillers a 34-0 halftime advantage.
“Our passing game was very good tonight,” Miller said. “And defensively we continued to come away with interceptions.”
Tustin intercepted El Modena (2-6, 0-3) quarterback Brian Stiefel three times on the night, two of them coming inside the Tillers’ redzone.
“We definitely gave everything we had to get that shutout tonight,” Lilly said, who grabbed two of the team’s interceptions.
Stiefel threw his second interception early in the fourth quarter, stalling a Vanguard drive at the Tustin 12-yard line.
On the ensuing play, Wilkerson took a pitch 88-yards down the right sideline for his fourth and final score of the game.
It was the last carry of the game, giving the county’s rushing leader 1,675 yards.