Teams sharpen claws for battle
BRAWLEY — While the 10th Game of the Week shaped up to be a bit different than in years past, it will no doubt be just as competitive as the Brawley Union High School football team is set to host Imperial High School at Warne Field on Friday night. Since 2011, both teams have gone into the matchup with unblemished Imperial Valley League records, with the game eventually deciding that season’s IVL champion. This year is different, however, as Brawley goes in with one league loss, while Imperial goes in with two.
Both teams fell to the currently unbeaten Southwest High Eagles, with Imperial’s second league loss came to Central Union High, who the Wildcats have yet to play.
While a league title is not on the line this year, both teams have much to prove and would benefit from a victory come the CIF-San Diego Section playoffs.
Brawley Union High
The Brawley Union High football team enters Friday’s matchup with an overall record of 5-3 and a hunger to grab one more win before the 74th annual Bell Game next week.
The Wildcats are coming off a solid 56-7 victory over Calexico High last week, which likely helped rally the Brawley offense, which lost its starting quarterback to injury two weeks ago.
Stepping for Casey Kline last week, was Ethan Torrez, who tossed a 26-yard touchdown pass in the win.
As per tradition, the Wildcats used their run game to help record the win, with junior Michael Moreno accounting for most of the yards after he tallied 191 yards on 17 carries and rushed for two scores in the win.
Moreno will likely prove troublesome for Imperial as he has scored at least one touchdown in each game this season.
In addition to Moreno, the Wildcats will also have George Mickle, who is coming off an injury and recorded rushing and receiving scores last week for the Wildcats.
Also looking to make a mark against Imperial will be junior transfer Deonte Bell, who played in his first game last week against Calexico and tallied one touchdown.
Like many Brawley players, Bell can also help the Wildcats on defense, which is currently led by senior Alek Aguirre, who has 58 tackles on the season.
Falling in behind Aguirre with 40 tackles each are both Moreno and Anthony Batt, while Branden Gutierrez has nearly 30 in the year.
Imperial High
Similar to Brawley Union High, the Tigers are also in a predicament in the quarterback position with starter Wyatt Rodriguez trading snaps with Joey Tarango, who was under center last week for Imperial.
In that game, Tarango had a 21-yard pass to Santiago De La Torre that ended up being the team’s only score of the game.
Last week was not the first time Tarango spent time in the quarterback position as he guided Imperial over wins against Calexico and Rancho Buena Vista earlier this season.
Tarango has proven to be a multiple-threat for Imperial as he has also been called on to run and catch the ball and provide tackles on defense.
In addition to Tarango, the Tigers will also look to ground-threats Nathan Hart and Brandon Hueso to help lead them in the game. Hueso has 818 rushing yards on the season, while Hart has 122.
Leading the passing game for the Tigers so far this season are De La Torre and Joey Ramos, with the former of the pair also contributing on defense and special teams.
While the Tiger offense has struggled the past few games, the defense has been able to put in some solid work, which will likely help the players against an aggressive Wildcats offense.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Warne Field in Brawley. Watch the game live at ivpressonline.com