Beltran carries Raiders
Cibola extends streak over Yuma High to 12 straight
The Cibola Raiders’ offense runs through senior tailback John Beltran.
In the season opener on Friday night, Beltran tallied 19 touches, over 180 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns (two rushing and one receiving) in the Raiders’ (1-0) 34-14 victory over Yuma High (0-1).
Despite his dazzling numbers, the soft-spoken senior acknowledges his performance isn’t possible without his teammates blocking upfront.
“My line deserves all the credit,” Beltran said. “Without them, I wouldn’t be able to do anything.”
The unselfish response doesn’t surprise Cibola head coach Steven Fritz, who’s seen Beltran transform into a complete back the past two seasons.
“That’s John,” he said. “If I could have 20 Johns on this team, I’d ask for 20 more. He’s a special kid.”
Beltran provided two of the three first half touchdowns for the Raiders and each time he received a touch in the opening half, the Raiders eventually scored on the possession.
After Yuma High took an 8-7 lead, Beltran became the workhouse, busting a 44-yard run before setting himself up with a 12-yard touchdown scamper.
From there, the Raiders were in control.
“Defensively, we have to make some tackles.”
first-year Yuma High head coach Bo Seibel said. “We have to run the ball better. We let up some big plays defensively that put us in a hole and obviously fighting from a hole is a little bit harder than playing with a lead.”
Cibola would eventually pull away 34-8 late in the game after Beltran received a swing pass before slicing between the defense for his third and final score of the night.
Defensively, the Raiders provided consistent pressure all night that contributed to the three-score victory.
Cibola’s front-seven tallied five sacks and caused havoc for the Yuma High offense.
The Raiders allowed only 46 rushing yards and virtually wiped away any passing attack by the Criminals.
“We wanted to be an attacking-minded defense,” Fritz said. “That’s true and we have some things to clean up. Overall, I’m happy. We told the kids to pin their ears back and go. That’s the kind of defense we want to play.”
However, it wasn’t all pretty for the team in black and gold.
Yellow laundry flooded the field all night as the Raiders were called for 15 penalties.
“We talked all week,” Fritz said. “We have a lot of young guys and they were in positions tonight they’d never been in. I think that’s a product of a lot of things. (The number of flags) was probably more than I hoped for by quite a bit. But that’s a product of four weeks of football practice and a product of having some younger guys that have some room for growth.”
Seibel mentioned earlier in the week the Criminals could potentially run two quarterbacks on the field Friday night.
They did just that after giving Jacob Straub the start. Shortly into the game, Jay Noah Medel relieved the duties as Straub spread out wide to receiver.
Medel finished the evening 15-of-26 for 205 yards and two touchdowns (one passing and one rushing). Medel found a streaking Straub in the opening half for a 35-yard touchdown pass to give the Criminals their only lead of the night.
“Jacob is a great guy for us,” Seibel said. “He can play any position for us. He’s just one of those guys that is super smart for us. Obviously, Medel has a good arm on him and moved really well in the pocket.”
Cibola’s victory Friday night notched their 12th consecutive win over Yuma.
When asked if that is what’s expected at Cibola, Beltran said, “Yes.”