GAME OF THE WEEK
YUMA — “What in the h__ is going on?”
That’s Calexico Head Coach John Tyree, yelling onto the field during the opening drive of what will go down in the books as a 39-6 Bulldog victory.
Kudos to Coach Tyree for having an inquiring mind, but if anyone was suffering from information deficit in this game, it was Kofa.
At the time of said query, Calexico was on the 9-yard line, peering into the end zone, and about to score their first TD, while the Kings were the very picture of befuddlement.
The Bulldogs had reeled off several loud runs to open the game and Kofa seemed at a loss for how to defend their triple-option attack, succumbing to play fakes left and right, and getting bullied by a physical offensive line.
Then, just when it seemed as though the Kings might be catching on, Calexico threw a curveball — or rather, the football — for the first time all game, converting on a short pass from quarterback Luis Meza to wideout Nikolas Rockenbach to put six points on the board.
Now 6-0 (the PAT went wide left) is not the biggest of leads, but it seemed to take wind out the Kings sails and opened them up to repeated kidney-punches from an engaged Bulldog side.
Calexico’s defense was particularly fierce in this one, turning the Kings over on downs early and often (the Kings appeared to have very little faith in their punt unit) and turning them over on live balls a few times, as well.
Kofa’s first turnover on downs came on their first drive, which is fitting, seeing how often they revisited that outcome over the course of the match.
The Bulldogs were quick to tack advantage of the stop. They took over at the Kofa 32, and four runs later it was wingback Luis Andrade taking it in to increase his squad’s advantage to 12.
After that, Calexico scuppered another Kofa drive — this one a rare three and out, featuring the first of three sacks by senior lineman Luis Estrada — and followed that up with a quarter-bridging nine-play march downfield that ended with Meza keeper from 11 yards out on fourth down.
A note here about Mr. Meza: This was his first-ever start at QB, taking over for an injured Raymond Ontiveros. Listed at 5-feet, 7-inches, but looking a bit shorter, the jet-quick Meza acquitted himself well in his debut. He looked comfortable making reads out the option and generally seemed to keep the team in a good rhythm.
After Meza’s score made it 20-0, the game settled down a bit. There were no more points before the half as both teams struggled to do quite what they wanted to do.
Kofa looked as though it might be headed for some points before the half after a Calexico fumble.
They were able to get into Bulldog territory thanks to some sweeps and screens featuring Tre’Shaun Jones (who was clearly their top playmaker) and a whole lot of flags, but despite all their good fortune, they still fizzled in the end.
Calexico, meanwhile, was hampered by a couple of injuries, including one to starting fullback Chris Gonzalez, which slowed their offense down as backup Benito Cervantes tried to find his footing.
The second half saw the Bulldogs reassert themselves. A Cervantes run got them to 26-0.
They then gave up a long touchdown pass to Jones, but despite this the Bulldogs were clearly in the driver’s seat. They kept draining the clock with run after run. giving the Kings no chance to get back in it.
Another Cervantes TD made it 32-6, and the final score came on a Javier Contreras score with two minutes left.
It’s unlikely to be so easy for the Bulldogs next game, as they take on undefeated Central Union in El Centro next Thursday.