Game of the Week Preview: Southwest vs. Yuma
EL CENTRO — On the very first play of their game against Kofa High School, the Southwest High School Eagles got drawn offside.
Another five yards their opponents didn’t have to earn.
Add ‘em to the pile.
After spending 2017 breezing, zephyr-like, through game after game, the Eagles were wrestling with a 2018 that was kicking like a mule.
They couldn’t manage a single touchdown in their first two dates, against West Hills and Cibola.
Cibola, in particular, had given them what-for, shutting Southwest out 47-0 for their worst loss (by margin of victory) since 2012’s 63-0 outing against Brawley.
Self-inflicted wounds factored significantly in those opening losses, and the fans in the stands at Eagle Field had to wonder whether they were about to be given a redux.
Two more flags on the same drive certainly didn’t help to lower any heart rates.
The Kings had the ball on the 30-yard line, and it looked as though the dam was about to break once more, that the Eagles would find themselves staring up from a deficit once again.
But then, the Eagles’ defense seemed to collectively stiffen. A backfield stop made it third and 13, and on the next play, Southwest got into the backfield again. The Kofa QB panicked and threw the ball into the willing hands of his opposite number, Logan Chell, moonlighting at linebacker.
It was a moment to spin the weather vane. Two plays later, Southwest was in the end zone on a 20plus yard Benji Alvarez run, and they would carry that momentum all the way to a 48-28 victory to finally decorate their win column.
The hope in the Southwest camp is, of course, that this win serves as an exorcism, that, as with a few dollars artfully placed at the bottom of a busker’s hat, the pump is now primed for more to follow. Perhaps.
But, while 20-point wins never make it to the returns desk, there are still reasons to hesitate before proclaiming “SOUTHWEST BACK!”
For one thing, Kofa is not particularly good. In fact, for the last several years, they have been what the less charitably inclined might call, “bad.”
There is a difference after all, between working the bag and sparring. The 48 points Southwest hung on Kofa are actually the fewest the Kings allowed all year.
And despite not allowing penalties to rob them of a W, the Eagles did not play the cleanest of games.
There were times in the fourth quarter when it seemed as though every other play was blown dead before the snap due to one miscue or another, something that will certainly come back to bite them against stiffer competition, something Coach John Mitosinka acknowledged post-game saying, “It’s nice to get a win, but we need to prepare better. There were a lot of mistakes.”
Luckily for Southwest, they’ll get another opportunity to fine-tune this week, before entering the meat-grinder that is the Imperial Valley League season.
Their opponent, the Yuma Criminals, is another team that has struggled in the early-going, most recently getting blanked by Holtville 21-0.
The mood around the Southwest squad is generally a positive one. They believe they’ve generally turned a corner and that they’ll be able to sort out the kinks they’ve encountered thus far.
Senior cornerback/running back Reece Quintero said, “We’re feeling pretty good going into this game. We still have to tweak some stuff, but it’s definitely good [to be] coming off of a win,” noting that the team now has more overall confidence because “we’ve got some momentum going into our next games.”
Senior lineman Marco Holguin is of a similar mind, saying, “those two losses taught us a lot — that, you know, can’t go into games with a big mouth and that we’ve got to pay more attention in practice ... but we’re progressing. We’ve had a bunch of kids step up and play hard every practice.”
Southwest will find out what their hard work earns them tomorrow night, 7 p.m. at Eagle Field.