Shawn Hobson …
VISTA – Finally!” a RBV cheerleader jumped up and shouted after the football game at“The Ranch” on Friday night. Players and coaches smiled, and there was a sense of relief in the air after the last home game of the season.
The Rancho Buena Vista football team claimed its first win of the season, a 31-17 victory over Del Norte in an Avocado East League game. Senior running back Dominic Taylor rushed for 281 yards and two touchdowns for the Longhorns (1-8 overall, 1-2 league).
“We finally got a win, after all the hard work,” Taylor said. “It feels good to get a win.”
Fellow senior teammate Junior Perez, who caught an interception that foiled a Nighthawks’ drive in the third quarter, shared similar sentiments.
“This was a real important win,” Perez said. “The season has been down, but we keep coming out to practice everyday. This is a really good feeling, especially being my last home game as a senior.”
It was also the last home game for RBV coach Paul Gomes, who announced he will be retiring from high school football at the end of the season.
“Our kids played hard, and they prepared well,” Gomes said. “That makes it nice. We played four quarters tonight. If we can wipe out our mistakes, like fumbles and offsides, we’ll be good. Tonight we wiped out some of those mistakes.”
Rancho Buena Vista scored on its first two possessions to take an early 14-0 lead. The first was a 74-yard drive that took 3 minutes, 26 seconds. Taylor carried the ball eight times and concluded with a 1-yard run. The RBV defense forced a three-and-out, then scored again. RBV junior tight end Misael Quintana caught a 8-yard pass from quarterback Ace Roach for the TD.
“Like I said all week, this is the most dangerous 0-8 team in the county,” first-year Del Norte coach Patrick Coleman said.
Del Norte junior quarterback Jake Moore led his team with 221 yards passing and 72 yards rushing. Moore was 21-for-39 with a touchdown and an interception for the Nighthawks (1-8 overall, 0-4 league).
MISSION HILLS 47, VISTA HIGH 21
At Mission Hills, Nehemiah McFarlin scored two rushing touchdowns for the Grizzlies in the Avocado East League victory. The Panthers blocked a field goal, and Blake Nuesca returned it back for a 70-yard touchdown.
Del Norte……0….10….0…..7–17
RBV………..14….10….0…..7–31
First Quarter
RBV–Taylor 1 run (Alvarado kick), 8:54
RBV–Quintana 8 pass from Roach (Alvarado kick), 2:03
Second Quarter
DN–Moore 7 run (Padilla kick), 9:35
DN–Padilla 35 FG, 5:54
RBV–Bowman 3 run (Alvarado kick), 1:12
RBV–Alvarado 37 FG, 4 sec.
Fourth Quarter
RBV–Taylor 30 run (Alvarado kick), 8:33
DN–Ullrich 7 pass from Moore (Padilla kick), 2:29
Team Statistics
Total Yards: Del Norte 305, RBV 455. Passing: Del Norte 221, RBV 46. Rushing: Del Norte 84, RBV 409. First Downs: Del Norte 15, RBV 19. Penalties: Del Norte 5-35, RBV 4-25. Turnovers: Del Norte 3, RBV 3. Records: Del Norte 1-8 overall, 0-4 league, Rancho Buena Vista 1-8, 1-2 league.
Individual Statistics
PASSING: Del Norte: 21-39-221-1. RBV: Roach 3-9-46-1. RUSHING: Del Norte: Hauck 7-5, Moore 19-72, McCall 2-1, Farnham 1-6. RBV: Taylor 34-281, Smith 1-8, Robbins 3-12, Perez 1-20, Wakefield 1-2, Roach 3-3, Bowman 5-34, Heil 7-49. RECEIVING: Del Norte: Gray 2-12, Ullrich 8-86, Lowe 6-92, Hauck 2-20, No. 10 3-11. RBV: Llerenas 1-0, Quintana 1-8, Perez 2-38.
Contact Shawn Hobson at sportswriter@sbcglobal.net. Follow him on Twitter @HOBMediaWorks.
