The 102nd and most unusual season in Colonist football annals came to an end on Friday, April 16 at Glover Stadium. But even more important than Anaheim’s resounding 51-12 win over Santa Ana Valley in the Orange League finale for both teams, senior running back Adam Luna and head coach Lanny Booher both reached impressive marks that put them among the all-time greats in team history.
Luna ended his Anaheim football playing career with one of the greatest nights ever played. Demonstrating his trademark speed and elusiveness, the outgoing senior tailback carried the ball 18 times for a whopping 341 yards, the second-highest single-game total in team history (behind only Reuben Droughns’ 373 yards vs. Arroyo in the First Round of the 1993 CIF-Southern Section playoffs).
Additionally, Luna (who finished with 936 yards in just five games), scored a team-record seven rushing touchdowns on runs of 10, 14, 54, and 14 yards in the first quarter (also a new team mark), a 58-yarder in the second quarter, another 58-yard run in the third quarter, and then a final 9-yard scamper early in fourth quarter. This broke the team single-game mark of six set by Matt Contreras in a 2007 victory over Katella. The seven scores gave Luna 20 rushing touchdowns for the season, the first Colonist back to do so since George Perdickez in 2006. Luna averaged 18.9 yards per carry in the game, evoking memories of Mickey Flynn, while his running style recalled other historic Anaheim running backs like Joel Ramirez and Joaquin Garcia who did not let their lack of size get in the way of dominating the field of play. With a career total of 1,350 rushing yards and 26 total TDs, there is no doubt that Adam Luna’s name now goes along with the very best who have ever played for Anaheim High School.
Watching from the sidelines as he has done for so many years, head coach Lanny Booher guided his team through the chaos and hardships of this season, which was turned upside down by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Even when the prospects for having a season during the 2020-21 school year seemed grim, Booher kept his players focused and motivated. And when the danger abated and the season was allowed to commence, Anaheim was ready.
The Colonists’ rout of the Falcons gave Anaheim a 4-1 record to end the season and bettered the team’s overall win total for 2019 (when the Colony finished 3-7). The win over Santa Ana Valley was also the 85th career victory for Coach Lanny Booher, pushing him past Dick Glover, who won 84 games over 16 seasons during two stints from 1931 to 1942, and then again, from 1946 to 1949. Booher’s career win total now ranks as the second-most in team history behind only Clare Van Hoorebeke, who won 189 victories over 23 seasons from 1950 to 1972. Booher, an Anaheim High School graduate (Class of 1981), completed his 17th season as head coach, having led the team since 2004.
