Tigers run over Patriots, 41-0
IMPERIAL — In its last few Imperial Valley League games, the football team from Imperial High struggled to string together all aspects of its game resulting in tough and narrow losses to local teams.
Yet the Tigers turned over a new leaf in their final IVL game last week after defeating Palo Verde Valley, 52-18.
“We just feel that our record isn’t an indication of how good we really are and the kids wanted to come out and prove how good they really are,” expressed Imperial High head coach Kerry Legarra at the time. “We still got some things we need to work on, but it’s a whole new season starting up next week and hopefully we can continue and make the people of Imperial proud.”
As Legarra hoped, the team most certainly built on its performance last week as it worked to open the CIF-San Diego Section Div. III playoffs with a resounding 41-0 victory over Patrick Henry here Friday night.
The Tigers went in as the No. 5 seed to the Patriots’ No. 12 rank and as Legarra said, played better than the 4-6 overall record they had prior to the playoff-win.
Imperial worked to get on the board with 6 minutes left in the first quarter off a 28-yard Santiago De La Torre field goal. The Tigers carried the 3-0 advantage to the second quarter, where De La Torre continued to put up points for the Tigers.
The junior also scored the first touchdown of the game on a 54-yard pass from Joey Tarango to go up 9-0 after a missed PAT.
The score ignited the Tiger offense, which had a 20-0 advantage at the half after a series of scores including an 11-yard pass from Tarango to Joey Ramos, a Brandon Hueso two-point conversion and a 32-yard field goal from De La Torre.
Tarango, Ramos and Hueso would all find the end zone again in the second half of the game with De La Torre adding two of the three PATs and Eric Orozco stepping in for the third attempt.
Opening the second half with a score for the Tigers was Ramos, who found the end zone after a 12-yard rush. A deep pass from Tarango to Michael Martinez set up the rush and De La Torre PAT that gave Imperial a 27-0 advantage with about 9 minutes to go in the third.
On the Patriots’ next possession the Tiger defense worked to keep Patrick Henry at bay and recovered a fumble to gain possession at their own 48-yard line.
The ensuing drive would eat up the clock and result in a 3-yard rushing score from Hueso and De La Torre PAT, pushing Imperial’s lead to 34-0 and the game into the fourth quarter.
The Tigers sealed the win with another score midway through the final quarter off a 31-yard rush from Tarango, with Orozco adding the PAT to give Imperial the 41-0 shutout win.
With the win the Tigers move to 5-6 on the season and advance to the Div. III quarterfinals on Friday. Imperial will travel to face No. 4 Hilltop in its second playoff game.