Brawley routs Yuma in home opener
BRAWLEY — After two tough road losses to open the 2016 football season the Brawley Union High Wildcats were eager and ready to return to Warne Field and notch their first win of the year.
The home crowd was treated to that victory along with a plethora of offense as the Wildcats beat the Yuma Criminals 61-7 here Friday.
“It felt good to come home and get that first win,” said Brawley senior running back Austyn Gutierrez. “I was a little nervous, to be honest, heading here (Friday night) because you want to do good for the home crowd and we did, so it was all good.”
All night the Wildcat offensive attack proved too much for the Criminals as the home team opened their first possession with an eight-play, 67-yard touchdown drive that ended on a 3-yard run by quarterback A.J. Grijalva to take the 7-0 lead after a Braulio Guzman extra point.
With 35 seconds remaining in the first quarter Brawley’s offense separated itself from Yuma as Gutierrez burst through a giant hole for a 67-yard touchdown run to make it a 14-0 game.
On the next play from scrimmage for the Wildcats, Gutierrez again took the handoff and ended in the end zone, this time on a 45-yard run and he wasn’t done.
After a fumble recovery by the Brawley defense, again it was Gutierrez with another touchdown run of the 17-yard variety to put the game at 28-0.
Three consecutive plays, three Gutierrez touchdown runs totaling 129 yards.
“The line blocked, they knew their assignments and they blocked it right … there was always a hole right there and I did what I could,” Gutierrez said. “Great things happen when the line does their job and I’m thankful for them.”
With the offense setting the mark for the Criminals to match, the Brawley defense stalled Yuma’s attempts throughout the contest.
“We wanted to take the opportunity to learn and as we were driving up the score,” said senior linebacker Cedrick Ambriz. “We wanted to implement what we’ve been learning in practice and get some backups in the game. We didn’t want to let up, but we got a little too comfortable for a drive, but our coach put us in check and we kept the momentum going.”
The lone “comfortable drive” resulted in Yuma’s only score of the night on a broken play touchdown pass in the second quarter, making it a 28-7 game.
Ambriz made his presence known on the field for the defense in the game. It was a presence the first-year starter didn’t think would ever happen.
“(Friday night) was a little overwhelming for me because this has been something I’ve been working for since my sophomore year,” Ambriz said. “I worked hard to become a starter and when I got the job and got to win my first and only home opener, was heartwarming for me … I never thought I’d get to be on this field, to be honest.”
Brawley added two more scores before the buzzer sounded for halftime, the first on a Grijalva run and the second on a touchdown pass from Grijalva to Blake Zeleny, to make it a 41-7 score.
The running clock struck in the second half but that didn’t stop Brawley from finding the end zone three more times.
Grijalva connected with George Mickle for a 19-yard score then second-stringers Issac Garcia and Blass Gutierrez both scored on touchdown runs.
After the 61-7 win Brawley (1-2) will have to regroup and get ready for an always-tough opponent in Cibola here at 7 p.m. Friday.
“I think we tried really hard and the kids were getting after it but we made some mistakes that we need to clean up. It’s week three so we should be getting better every week.” Brawley head coach Jon Self said. “I expect another tough game against Cibola like last year and every time we’ve played them … I don’t expect anything different.”