Scots spoil El Cajon Valley homecoming, 35-6
EL CAJON — It was clear that, after the ignominy of going 0-10 in 2018, the El Cajon Valley High School football team wanted to show their fans a thing or two at their homecoming game against the Vincent Memorial Scots on Friday.
They wanted to win so badly that, after the Scots jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, the Braves risked it all on multiple dicey fourth-down conversion attempts deep in their own territory — each of which backfired spectacularly leading to a running clock to start the fourth quarter and an easy 35-6 victory for Vincent.
However bad El Cajon Valley may have been last year, they actually had a 3-1 record heading into their game against Vincent, so the ease with which the Scots dismantled them has got to put the rest of the Manzanita League — and, indeed, the rest of SDS Division V — on notice.
The Scots got the ball to start and needed only four plays (a 35-yard strike from Hernan Olivas to Alejandro Cervantes, an Olivas firstdown scramble, a 22-yard Olivas to Emilio Abizaid connection and a 6-yard Noe Saenz run) to go up six points (the PAT missed).
El Cajon Valley went nowhere on their ensuing drive and then made matters worse for themselves after mu ng a punt deep in their own territory, giving the Scots an easy look at the goal line that they took advantage of with a series of Max Diaz runs capped by a successful two-point conversion with five minutes to go in the first quarter.
Vincent was held o the scoreboard for the rest of the first half, thanks in part to a large number of penalties against them. But this didn’t matter much, as El Cajon Valley had zero in the way of o ensive success — especially after their starting quarterback was knocked out of the game.
The Scots brought heavy pressure all night long, led by lineman Jorge Ruiz who had 1.5 sacks and two tackles for a loss.
The second half saw the Braves desperation mode plans not pan out, and the Scots’ lead got wider and wider.
A last-second garbage time score kept Vincent from logging a shutout, but the victory was complete by any calculation.
Next up for Vincent is a big-time test against the Santana Sultans, who have given the Scots’ an L two years running. The Sultans are 5-0 this year and are looking like a strong contender for the Division IV title.
The two teams meet Friday in Santee.