Empire League : El Dorado Outlasts Cypress : Golden Hawks Notch Their First Victory in League Play, 15-0

It was a struggle, but El Dorado finally won its first Empire League game Thursday night, downing Cypress, 15-0, in front of 125 rain-drenched fans in Handel Stadium at Anaheim.

Once, there were high expectations for the Golden Hawks as they entered the six-team league with a 5-0 record and a No. 5 ranking in the Orange County Sportswriters’ Assn. poll. Among the five victories was an impressive 10-6 win over Valencia.

But there have been nothing but hard times in league play as El Dorado (6-2-1, 1-2-1) lost to Los Alamitos and Loara and was tied by Katella, a school that has experienced 17 consecutive losing seasons.

The handful of fans who braved the bad weather saw El Dorado open a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and then the Golden Hawks seemed to lose interest in the remainder of the game.

Running back Chris Olsen had the Golden Hawks flying in the first quarter as he consistently gained good yardage on the muddy field. El Dorado scored on its opening two possessions with Phil Nevin kicking a 20-yard field goal and Olsen scoring the game’s only touchdown on a 14-yard run.

The next 36 minutes were mixed with fumbles, interceptions and a seemingly endless number of penalties.

El Dorado had two touchdowns nullified by penalties as the Golden Hawks were penalized 14 times for 135 yards. Quarterback Kevin Schula had 202 yards passing and Olsen finished with 119 yards rushing, but Olsen’s touchdown, Nevin’s two field goals and a safety were all the Hawks managed to score.

El Dorado posted its second shutout of the season by intercepting three passes and shutting down Cypress’ running game. The only bright spot for Cypress (1-7-1, 1-1-1) was the play of tight end Paul Geldbach, who caught 5 passes for 55 yards and has 30 receptions for 412 yards this season.