ORANGE — When his quarterback went searching for greener pastures during the offseason, Villa Park coach Dusan Ancich didn’t fret.
He knew he had someone special down the line.
Jacob Titchenal once again showed that the Spartans should be in good hands for a while after the sophomore threw for 231 yards and two touchdowns Friday night, helping Villa Park to a 35-21 win against Apple Valley in a CIF-SS Division 3 first-round playoff game at El Modena High.
The Spartans (8-3) will travel to Newport Harbor for a second-round matchup next week.
“Titchenal is a Division I quarterback, there’s no question about it,” Ancich said. “A sophomore playing like a veteran senior.”
The Spartans reached the Division 4 semifinals last season with junior Matt Smith at quarterback, but he transferred to Santa Margarita in the offseason, where he was ultimately beat out by the son of coach Carson Palmer, junior Fletch Palmer.
While Smith has thrown just eight passes for Santa Margarita this season, Titchenal has thrived for Villa Park, throwing his 19th and 20th touchdown passes of the season against Apple Valley and surpassing 2,000 passing yards.
“Our quarterback transferring, we didn’t lose a beat from our spring on,” Ancich said.
Ben Hannah has been the No. 1 target for Titchenal this season and he caught six passes for 114 yards on Friday, but Parker Johns had the biggest grabs against Apple Valley, hauling in touchdown passes of 30 and 15 yards.
Johns also spent time at defensive end chasing after fleet-footed Apple Valley quarterback Brent Lanning.
“Two-way star for 11 games,” Ancich said. “Played a little bit of everything. Played backer, D-end, he can play tight end, a little fullback, wideout, special teams, he can block kicks, he can catch the ball. He’s long.”
Wil Cassara made the defensive play of the game against the Wildcats, intercepting a pass on the first series of the second half and returning it 78 yards for a touchdown that stretched the lead to 28-13.
Cassara was playing with a soft cast on his right hand because of an injury suffered three weeks earlier against Tustin.
“Hit me right in the stomach,” Cassara said of the interception. “I saw a clear path and I took it.”
The Spartans recovered a fumble off a sack on their next defensive series and capitalized on that turnover as well when Coy Collins scored on a 16-yard touchdown run to make it 35-13 with 6:12 left in the third quarter.
Collins, a junior, rushed for 144 yards on 27 carries and two touchdowns.
The Spartans leaned heavily on Collins early and took a 7-0 lead on their second drive of the game on his 2-yard touchdown run.
The Sun Devils answered with a 11-play 69-yard drive and tied it 7-7 on a 14-yard touchdown reception by Davion Swan-Satterwhite from Lanning.
Titchenal found Johns over the middle and he spun off a pair of defenders near the goal line to complete the 30-yard touchdown and move Villa Park back ahead 14-7 with 10:34 left in the first half.
Apple Valley (10-2) came back with another lengthy drive and Lanning scored on a 12-yard touchdown run with 5:47 remaining in the half, but the Sun Devils missed the extra point to keep the Spartans in front 14-13.
Titchenal hooked up with Johns for a 15-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone for a 21-13 lead with 37 seconds left before halftime.
Apple Valley tried a 40-yard field goal as time expired, but it was blocked.
Less than four minutes into the game, Apple Valley senior fullback Joseph Lopez suffered a gruesome leg injury and the game was delayed about 30 minutes for the medical response and on-field treatment.