Hornets mauled in return to the gridiron, 27-0
CALIPATRIA — The Calexico High School football team blanked Calipatria High School, 27-0, in a non-league game Friday at Veterans’ Field.
The thumping from the Bulldogs dulled the glow of Calipatria’s first appearance in an official football contest since October 2019, as well as Matthew Self ’s first game as the team’s head coach.
Self, who was hired in summer 2020, was kept of the sidelines during the abbreviated 2020-2021 season when the school opted not to field a team due to concerns over player availability.
The Hornets’ hive currently possesses very few players with any varsity experience, and Self had to make do on Friday.
The Hornets had no answer for Bulldog slot receiver Andrew Rivera, running back Julian De Leon and the rest of Calexico’s offense, as the scoreboard read 27-0 by mid-third quarter.
“I like that we can move the ball easily, but I thought we could probably put up more points,” De Leon, a senior, said.
A 52-yard touchdown run from De Leon at the 10:53 mark in the first quarter put gave the Bulldogs the lead at 6-0 (the PAT failed), and they never looked back.
On one play during the Hornet’s opening offensive drive, quarterback Jacob Zendejas called for a timeout after he and two other players glanced at their playbook wristbands and realized they were out of formation.
Calexico, on the way to back-to-back wins for the first time in a great while, followed with a drive that ended with Rivera scampering in for a 13-yard TD run with 2:50 left in the first. The made PAT by Lorenzo Rodriquez made the score 13-0.
During the Hornets’ following drive, Calexico defensive lineman Gabriel Verdugo batted down a throw from Zendejas at the 1:52 mark. The next play, he did it again.
“In those times, I was reading the QB,” Verdugo said. “I read his arm motion, and, from what he was telling me, he was throwing it low. So, wherever he threw it, that’s where I positioned my arms.”
The Hornets turned the ball over on downs, and the Bulldogs turned over their offense to junior quarterback David Esquer, who Head Coach Fernando Solano platooned with starter Abram Zazueta, a senior.
Although Zazueta has age and size on Esquer, the junior has the experience. Esquer was the Bulldog’ starting QB last season. He also quarterbacked Calexico’s freshman team and has been playing the game for about nine years.
“I just gotta keep my head up and keep working,” Esquer said. “I’m trying to secure the starting spot for every week.”
Esquer demonstrated some of his experience at the 11:53 mark of the second quarter, when he hit wide receiver Andres Ramirez from about 15 yards out for a touchdown pass. The PAT pushed Calexico’s lead to 20-0.
At the 6:23 mark in the third quarter, Esquer hit Rivera, who ran it in from 4 yards out to close out the game’s scoring (PAT good).
“He executes every play very well,” Esquer said of Rivera. “He has the speed, the strength — everything. Everything about him is just great.”
Rivera, a sophomore, has a shifty style that has landed him a starting WR spot on Calexico’s offense. He demonstrated Friday he is both a deep threat who can run by defenders, as well as someone who can drop his shoulder and drive through defenders.
Nevertheless, he did make a couple a mental errors that could have cost his team. At the 2:18 mark of the third quarter, Rivera fumbled while running down the field, and the ball was recovered by Calipatria’s Zachary Leal. Things had been testy between Leal, a cornerback, and Rivera all evening, but the animosity came to a boil with 14 seconds left in the third, when Rivera was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for something he said to Leal after a play.
Solano sat Rivera for the remainder of the game.
“I just made a mistake,” Rivera said. “All the adrenaline and the testosterone builds up in you, and then you just make one mistake and you let it all out.”
Calipatria last best chance to score came with 3:09 left in the game.
Calexico’s wide receiver Pedro Rioseco was running up the field when safety Tyler Sadberry jarred the ball loose, which was recovered by Calipatria at their own 20.
The Hornets weren’t able to convert, however, and ultimately gave the ball back to the Bulldogs, who ran out the clock on their ensuing possession.
Next, Calipatria (0-1) will travel to Temecula to play Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac Catholic School at 3 p.m. Saturday, while Calexico (2-1) will host Yuma High at 7 p.m. Friday.