Look for results from high school football Friday
EL CENTRO — Prior to its most recent game, the Vincent Memorial High School football team knew it had a reliable quarterback in Eduardo Valenzuela.
The senior quarterback once again proved this belief, as he led the Scots to a solid 49-14 win in their first home game against San Ysidro High School played at Southwest High School’s Eagle Field on Friday night.
“It’s a big school (San Ysidro) and we proved that we’re a great team and we can play hard,” said Valenzuela, who also lead the Scots to a 33-13 win over Cougars last year.
Prior to Vincent Memorial’s win, the team was ranked No. 2 in CIF-SDS Div. V, while San Ysidro was ranked first, giving the game extra significance.
“We knew this was an important game, especially in our home. We did what we had to do today,” remarked a proud David Wong, Vincent Memorial High’s head coach.
Valenzuela and the Vincent Memorial offense started the game with early signs of victory after creating a 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Neither team would see the end zone until well into the second quarter, prior to the senior signal caller connecting with senior wide receiver Juan Pablo Ruiz for a 30-yard touchdown pass that increased the Scots’ lead 21-0.
In the kickoff after Valenzuela’s touchdown pass, a sense of an early win began to spread among the Scots, though they were quickly called back into focus as the Cougars scored by returning the kickoff to the end zone, making it 21-7.
Yet, Valenzuela and junior halfback Javier Briseño saw no problem answering San Ysidro’s score once they regained possession, as two short runs and a pitch from Valenzeula to Briseño resulted in another touchdown, raising the teams lead 28-7.
The Cougars would once against beat the Scots’ defense at the start of the third quarter, scoring from a 5-yard touchdown run at about the 9:20 mark.
With San Ysidro’s touchdown run, the game drew closer, 28-14, though the Scot’s offense still had a lot more to showcase on the field.
Highlighting their next drive was Valenzuela and Ruiz connecting for a 20yard pass, which then set Briseño up to find the end zone through a 25-yard run, increasing their lead, 35-14, at the third quarter’s 6-minute mark.
“Their defense couldn’t stop us. We had too many weapons,” said the senior quarterback.
Four minutes later, Valenzuela once again found Ruiz, who was a favorite target of his for the night, in the end zone with a 30-yard touchdown pass, raising their lead 42-14.
“We have a good connection, I know how he runs the routes and he’s a great receiver,” said Valenzuela on Ruiz.
The senior wide receiver and quarterback duo had quite a history and friendship together before they even put on the Scots’ navy blue and gold, as they’ve played together since Pop Warner.
“Me and my quarterback, we’ve been playing since kids, so we improvise a lot. I mean I could just see that look in his eyes and I know what he’s going to do next,” described Ruiz on the connection between him and his quarterback.
While the Cougars’ offense did not see the end zone for the rest of the game, Vincent Memorial’s senior linebacker Miguel Valenzuela made sure his team would extend their already-dominating lead.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Miguel sacked San Ysidro’s quarterback in the backfield for a loss of more than five yards, putting the Scot’s offense back in control of the ball.
Vincent Memorial’s Noe Gallego was sure to make great use of their new possession, catching a 35-yard pass from Valenzuela for a touchdown at the 10:40 mark, extending their lead to 4914 and ending the game in terms of scoring.
The Scots’ victory put them on a four-game win streak, but more importantly placed them as the No. 1 team in their division as of today.
“We trained very hard all week. The work we did paid off and we had a really good game. We were definitely ready for San Ysidro and hopefully every team. We have our eye on the championship and we’re going to keep training every week like its championship week,” stated Ruiz.
“It was an important game to us. We’re 4-0 and we have to keep it going that way, undefeated,” promised Valenzuela.