Scots hold off Vikings
HOLTVILLE — Despite a strong start to take a three-score lead in the first half, the Vincent Memorial High School football team only just escaped a second-half rally by Holtville High School to secure a crucial 27-20 Manzanita League victory here on Friday night.
With less than two minutes left in the game, a late interception made by the Scots’ quarterback Eduardo Valenzuela sealed the win for the team.
“I gave it all on that play,” said Valenzuela, who came in to help on defense and ultimately intercepted a pass from Vikings quarterback Noah Jongeward. “I wanted the win. I want to win the league and we couldn’t afford to lose this game.”
Although Valenzuela has played defense in prior seasons, this was the first time he was required to do so this season.
The game started on a much happier note for the Scots, who scored on their third play from scrimmage as Valenzuela connected with wide receiver Juan Pablo Ruiz for a 60-yard catch-and-run for the opening touchdown.
The Vikings had an opportunity to tie the game on their next drive, however, Jongeward was unable to handle a high snap inside the Scots’ 10-yard line and the defense recovered the loose ball.
This was the first of five turnovers Holtville had on the night.
In their next two possessions, the Scots managed to add to their lead, first through a 44-yard touchdown run by running back Emilio Abizaid, while Valenzuela and Ruiz connected once more early in the second quarter to give the Scots a resounding 21-0 lead.
While it seemed the Scots were ready to cruise to a victory, the Vikings responded as Jongeward connected with running back Andy Pascual for a 51-yard catch-and-run to get the Vikings in the red zone.
A few plays later, Pascual capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.
The Scots would then jump to a 27-6 lead in the next series when Jose Ignacio Monge scored from 1-yard out with 3:48 left in the second quarter.
From this point in the game the Scots only had eight offensive snaps until there were only 3:40 left in the fourth quarter.
Down by 21, the Vikings’ surge commenced at the end of the second quarter when they got within a yard of scoring.
However, the Scots’ defense stood tall and stopped the Vikings twice from the one-yard line. During the fourth down, another mishandled snap allowed the Scots to take over and retain their lead.
The second half was a different story. The Vikings changed offensive formation and almost exclusively ran the football, which created problems for the Scots’ defense, which couldn’t find a way to stop the Vikings’ rushing attack led by Pascual, Jacob Leyba and Jose Devoux. “They changed to a formation, which we didn’t study,” said Scots linebacker Manuel Diaz. “They had three linemen in the backfield as fullbacks, we didn’t watch them do that in video and we weren’t prepared, [so we] had to made late adjustments.”
While the adjustment put the game within the Vikings’ reach, another mistake gave the Scots a break. On fourth down, Devoux faked a punt, began eluding defenders and took the ball 68-yards to the end zone, but the touchdown was called back due to a holding penalty.
Finally in fourth quarter, Jongeward connected with tight end Gary Martinez for a 19-yard touchdown pass.
The defense then gave Holtville a chance by forcing a second Scots three and out.
Holtville got within distance late in the game thanks to a 5-yard touchdown run from their star of the night in Pascual, who cut the deficit to 2720.
In the next series, Valenzuela seemed to close the game with his legs after he scrambled for a 35-yard rush to get a crucial first down with less than three minutes left in the game, however, two plays later facing pressure, Valenzuela’s pass to the end zone was picked up by Viking safety Daniel Bejarano with 2:10 remaining.
Devoux then made a 31yard catch, which gave the Vikings hope, but on the ensuing play, Valenzuela came up with the clutch interception to close out a game that almost got away from them.
“We didn’t even have the ball in the second half, our defense stayed out there on the field,” Valenzuela said. “We committed way too many mistakes. We need more practice, coaching and more will. Overall we played a poor game.”
With the win, the Scots improve to 7-2 overall and 2-0 in Manzanita League and will host Mountain Empire High School in their regular season finale, where they can secure the league title with a win.
“It wasn’t a good game, we expected a lot more, overconfidence could have been a factor,” Diaz said. “Honestly I was expecting us to get the shutout; I came with the intent of not allowing any points.”