Tigers close out season with 28-7 win over Eagles
IMPERIAL — The Imperial High football team beat Southwest High, 28-7, on Friday at Shimamoto-Simpson Stadium in a game that was both teams’ Imperial Valley League closer.
The Tigers’ offense was too sharp for the Eagles to handle, as Imperial held a 21- 0 halftime lead.
A 30-yard-touchdown pass from quarterback Logan Jungers to wide receiver Nate Smith Jr. in the fourth quarter accounted for Southwest’s only score of the night.
Also Southwest’s Estevan Mcdonough was on the field all night as starting running back, punt returner and kick returner, Imperial’s starting linebackers Kye Bishop and Zach Ray helped keep him out of the end zone.
The Tigers’ retained the Johnny Romero Fireman’s Helmet — a trophy the Tigers and Eagles began competing for in 2009.
Imperial has dominated this matchup in recent years, beating Southwest 49-7 in 2018, 49-0 in 2019 and 43-14 in 2020.
The Tigers first scored at the 1: 02 mark of the first quarter, when wide receiver Devin Meza broke through on a handoff from 5 yards out . Ethan Gonzalez’s PAT was good, making the score 7- 0.
The Tigers were at it again with 9: 02 left in the second quarter.
That’s when quarterback Rhys Vindiola handed off at the 4 to running back Seth Shaw, who scored.
The Tigers notched another TD with 2:16 left in the half, when Jesse Nichols punched through from a yard out.
Imperial capped its scoring with 7: 02 left in the third. That’s when running back Jeremiah Naylor ran it in up the middle from 2 yards out, putting the Tigers up 28- 0. That were it stayed until 7: 26 was left in the contest and Jungers and Smith connected.
With the win, the Tigers finished the regular season with a 6- 4 overall record ( 2- 2 IVL). Meanwhile, the Eagles ended at 2-8
( 0- 4 IVL).