Scots swat Hornets 34-0 on Senior Night
EL CENTRO — Playing in the Valley for the first time in a long time, the Vincent Memorial Scots shut out the Calipatria Hornets 34-0 in a game played at Southwest High School (whose Eagles generously lent their turf to the stadium-less Calexico-based crew).
Looking sharp after several weeks honing their edge against San Diego County competition, the Scots ran Calipatria from pillar to post to win this one going away after a scoreless first quarter.
The game’s earliest moments were the only ones that held much promise of drama.
The Scots took the opening kickoff and set up their drive deep in their own territory.
They worked their way downfield with a steady diet of Daniel Rizzo runs and one pass of about 30 yards from Hernan Olivas to Emilio Abizaid. They looked well on their way to an early six.
But the Hornets weren’t quite ready for that. Showing some of the energy that enabled them to post back-to-back shutouts in their previous two games, they broke up a shot toward the end zone (a ball which came as close
as it could to being intercepted without actually doing so), stuffed a Rizzo run, sacked a scrambling Olivas and busted up a fourth-down screen play to take possession on downs.
Unfortunately for the Calipatria faithful (who traveled in good numbers), having gotten the ball they proceeded to do absolutely nothing with it.
This lead directly to the punt-off portion of the game. A Hornet three-and-out begat a Vincent three-and-out, which begat … another Hornet threeand-out.
For the briefest of moments it appeared the game might be devolving into a defensive struggle, or perhaps an offensive one — in the sense that the two offenses were the units actually struggling to put things together.
But even at this juncture, it was apparent that, though both offenses were failing to find a groove, they were not failing in equal measure.
Vincent was consistently winning the battle at the line of scrimmage. One Calipatria drive saw every play end in either a tackle for a loss or a quarterback sack.
The Scots nearly found their first score on a punt return following the second Hornet three-and-out.
Noe Saenz received the kick not too far from midfield and carried it down the Vincent sideline and past the pylon, but his efforts were negated by an illegal block in the back.
Getting the ball 15 yards behind the spot of the foul, the Scots ended their embargo on scoring with a six-play, quarter-bridging drive that ended on an Olivas keeper of about 20 yards.
A made point-after gave them a 7-0 lead, which would prove to be all the scoring they would ever need.
Of course, they would find some more. They added another seven before the second quarter was out, as Rizzo plunged home after a couple of Abizaid big-gainers (and one holding penalty).
In the third it was Rizzo again, making it 21-0. In the fourth? Rizzo, 27-0 (PAT wide left).
The Scots’ final score came on a clock-winding-down, pick-six by Juan Pablo Robinson, which slapped the final seal on an already very done deal.
The Hornets played hard throughout and made some solid defensive plays but couldn’t turn any of the breaks they got into anything resembling gold.
As previously mentioned, they simply couldn’t match up with Vincent up front, which made it almost impossible for them to move the ball with their flex-option offense. They got a few scattered first downs and managed to sneak into Scot territory on a couple of occasions but any momentum tended to be nullified by tackles for loss and turnovers.
Calipat also got short-sticked by Lady Luck on a couple of occasions.
In the second quarter, with the score still a manageable 140, a Noland Ange strip-sack was fallen on by Vincent, allowing them to keep possession.
In the fourth, a comedy of errors saw the Hornets intercept an Olivas pass to start the frame, go three-and-out, recover a muffed punt return, and then immediately fumble the ball back to Vincent.
The Scots’ game plan was very run-heavy. After leaning on the pass to edge past Montgomery the coaching staff decided to focus on the ground game in this one, looking to take advantage of their larger roster and wear the Hornets out.
“We wanted to keep it simple and work on shoring up our line,” said Vincent Offensive Coordinator Fernando Santana.
Santana praised the Hornets defensive efforts in the first quarter, but noted that after that, “they got tired” and the running lanes started to widen.
The win improves the Scots’ record to 7-1 and starts their Manzanita League campaign off on the right foot. Their next game is a biggie. They play Holtville in El Centro on Saturday, a match that could have major league championship implications.
Calipatria drops to 3-5 with the loss. Next up for them is a date with Mountain Empire, in Calipatria.