Brawley holds on to win opener against Gila Ridge
BRAWLEY – Struggling through the first half of their game with the Gila Ridge High Hawks, the Brawley Union High School Wildcat football team took a three touchdown lead in the second half then held off the visitors to score a 27-20 victory at Warne Field here Friday night.
It was the preseason opener for both teams and Wildcat coach Jon Self, who saw his team struggle early to find themselves, which they eventually did.
“Tonight we are just proud that we could overcome our mistakes and get the win,” Self said.” We’ll look at the film and see where we need to improve.”
The Wildcats took the opening kickoff and marched 78 yards with senior quarterback Casey Kline pitching to Nathan Godinez who ran six yards for a touchdown to give Brawley a 7-0 lead.
Brawley’s senior-laden offensive line lead the way as they did all night.
“We were unsure of ourselves at times and made some mistakes,” said senior center Ricky Avila. “It’s a new offense with a faster pace and we were a little confused at times and probably a little excited too.”
In the second quarter, Gila Ridge used a big punt return to set up a five-yard touchdown pass from Kaleb Cota to Dominique Jones to tie the game at 7-7.
Brawley linebacker Michael Moreno then recovered a Hawks fumble at their 22 yard line setting up a six-yard touchdown pass from Kline to senior tight end Jon Gasaway that gave the Wildcats a 13-7 halftime lead.
Kline was seeing his first action since he was injured midway through last season and was glad to be back and throwing the football.
“From when I went down last year to now has been a long waiting game for me,” Kline said. “Our new offense was fun to showcase and we’ll get better and better at it.”
Brawley dominated the third quarter defensively with senior free-safety Nate Godinez intercepting a pass to stop a Hawk drive.
While the Wildcats were unable to cash in Godinez’s interception, they were able to score off sophomore linebacker Chandler Self’s ensuing fumble recovery which set up a 5-yard Moreno touchdown run.
Leading 20-7, Brawley finished their scoring in the fourth quarter with a 30-yard touchdown run by Kline that came after a Reyes Lizarraga fumble recovery.
Trailing 27-7, Gila Ridge rallied behind a 2-yard touchdown run by Renan Durate and a Cota pass touchdown pass to D’Angelo Garcia to close the gap to 27-20 but the Brawley defense held the Hawks on the final drive of the game to secure the victory.
“They were bringing six guys every play and our offensive line did as good as they could have,” Self said. ‘Overall, the team stepped up on the last drive to stop it, and made big plays all game when we needed them.”
Moreno, a three-year starter at fullback and linebacker, felt the Wildcats did well.
“I think tonight we started hot, we came out to play and to establish ourselves,” said Moreno. “But they are a physical group and I think we both tired … but it’s great to start with a win.’
Next week Brawley (10) travels to El Cajon to take on the defending 3A state champion Steele Canyon Cougars. Meanwhile Gila Ridge (0-1) will host the Central Union High Spartans in Yuma with both games scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.