Vince Lopez and his Central Valley High School varsity football teammates were greeted with a loud ovation when they ran onto the field for pre-game warmups of their season-opening contest.
Lopez and the Hawks didn't disappoint as they annihilated visiting LeGrand 44-8 Friday night at Bulldog Stadium.
"It's a prime example of everybody doing what they were supposed to do," Vince said. "There were no heroes. I don't want to sound cocky, but I feel we're just as good as anybody out there."
Lopez, Central Valley's third-year running back, racked up a career-high 224 yards and scored two touchdowns on just 14 carries.
He was quick to praise the efforts of his teammates after the game, including linemen Nate Lopez, Patrick Smith, Dario Manriquez, Michael Melton and Josh Beckhart, tight end Alex Casas, and fellow running backs Chris Moscozo and Jonovan Solorio.
"I give a lot of credit to those guys," Vince said.
Lopez had an 80-yard TD scamper on Central Valley's first offensive play of the season.
Vince's first touch of the second half resulted in a 69-yard rushing score.
He would have carried the ball more times in the second quarter but played sparingly due to nausea.
"It was hard keeping everything down because of the nerves," said Vince, whose pre-game meal consisted of two hot dogs and a lot of water."
Quarterback Jesse Hatfield and receiver Greg Mathews, teammates at the junior-varsity level the past two seasons, had productive varsity debuts.
Hatfield completed three passes to Mathews for 75 yards and one touchdown. Jesse also had a rushing score.
Central Valley outscored LeGrand 17-0 in the first half and led 23-6 at the break.
Standout soccer player Daniel Ochoa booted a 30-yard field goal, Casas returned a fumble 33 yards for a touchdown and Hatfield threw a 41-yard TD pass to Mathews.
Hatfield and Terrence Sadler scored on runs of 1 and 9 yards, respectively, in the second half.
"These are the kind of teams we're supposed to beat," Lopez said.
Casas and Mathews starred on defense as Central Valley limited LeGrand to just 155 yards of total offense.
Alex, a linebacker, made multiple tackles and scored on a fumble return.
Greg, a safety, accounted for two of the Hawks' three interceptions.
Damarea Reese had the other one.
Manriquez and Darrell Daniels both collected a sack.
"We watched a lot of film, ran what they did at practice and executed during the game," Alex said. "We just took it too them. We were aggressive."
Central Valley will travel to Bret Harte this Friday. The contest will begin at 7:15 p.m.
JV Hawks win
Central Valley High School's junior-varsity football team coasted to a 19-0 win over visiting LeGrand on Friday at Bulldog Stadium.
"We were pumped up because it was our first game," Hawk linebacker/running back Josh Claudio said. "We should have won by more."
Claudio returned a fumble 55 yards for a touchdown one minute into the first quarter.
"It's unbelievable," Josh said while describing the key defensive play. "I saw the ball, picked it up and ran into the end zone."
Freshman quarterback Abraham Navarro extended Central Valley's lead to 12-0 when he tossed an 8-yard TD pass to Joel Jimenez in the right corner of the end zone with 6:51 to play in the third quarter. Ben Magana successfully converted his second point-after kick.
"I was nervous during the day," Navarro said. "I was ready to go once I got on the field. I'll feel less pressure the next game."
Claudio's 35-yard run set up the Hawks' final touchdown.
Navarro scored on a 1-yard QB sneak with 11 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Central Valley's defense recovered a fumble, intercepted two passes and forced five punts during non-league contest.
"For a first game, we didn't do too bad," Navarro said.
Lopez and the Hawks didn't disappoint as they annihilated visiting LeGrand 44-8 Friday night at Bulldog Stadium.
"It's a prime example of everybody doing what they were supposed to do," Vince said. "There were no heroes. I don't want to sound cocky, but I feel we're just as good as anybody out there."
Lopez, Central Valley's third-year running back, racked up a career-high 224 yards and scored two touchdowns on just 14 carries.
He was quick to praise the efforts of his teammates after the game, including linemen Nate Lopez, Patrick Smith, Dario Manriquez, Michael Melton and Josh Beckhart, tight end Alex Casas, and fellow running backs Chris Moscozo and Jonovan Solorio.
"I give a lot of credit to those guys," Vince said.
Lopez had an 80-yard TD scamper on Central Valley's first offensive play of the season.
Vince's first touch of the second half resulted in a 69-yard rushing score.
He would have carried the ball more times in the second quarter but played sparingly due to nausea.
"It was hard keeping everything down because of the nerves," said Vince, whose pre-game meal consisted of two hot dogs and a lot of water."
Quarterback Jesse Hatfield and receiver Greg Mathews, teammates at the junior-varsity level the past two seasons, had productive varsity debuts.
Hatfield completed three passes to Mathews for 75 yards and one touchdown. Jesse also had a rushing score.
Central Valley outscored LeGrand 17-0 in the first half and led 23-6 at the break.
Standout soccer player Daniel Ochoa booted a 30-yard field goal, Casas returned a fumble 33 yards for a touchdown and Hatfield threw a 41-yard TD pass to Mathews.
Hatfield and Terrence Sadler scored on runs of 1 and 9 yards, respectively, in the second half.
"These are the kind of teams we're supposed to beat," Lopez said.
Casas and Mathews starred on defense as Central Valley limited LeGrand to just 155 yards of total offense.
Alex, a linebacker, made multiple tackles and scored on a fumble return.
Greg, a safety, accounted for two of the Hawks' three interceptions.
Damarea Reese had the other one.
Manriquez and Darrell Daniels both collected a sack.
"We watched a lot of film, ran what they did at practice and executed during the game," Alex said. "We just took it too them. We were aggressive."
Central Valley will travel to Bret Harte this Friday. The contest will begin at 7:15 p.m.
JV Hawks win
Central Valley High School's junior-varsity football team coasted to a 19-0 win over visiting LeGrand on Friday at Bulldog Stadium.
"We were pumped up because it was our first game," Hawk linebacker/running back Josh Claudio said. "We should have won by more."
Claudio returned a fumble 55 yards for a touchdown one minute into the first quarter.
"It's unbelievable," Josh said while describing the key defensive play. "I saw the ball, picked it up and ran into the end zone."
Freshman quarterback Abraham Navarro extended Central Valley's lead to 12-0 when he tossed an 8-yard TD pass to Joel Jimenez in the right corner of the end zone with 6:51 to play in the third quarter. Ben Magana successfully converted his second point-after kick.
"I was nervous during the day," Navarro said. "I was ready to go once I got on the field. I'll feel less pressure the next game."
Claudio's 35-yard run set up the Hawks' final touchdown.
Navarro scored on a 1-yard QB sneak with 11 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Central Valley's defense recovered a fumble, intercepted two passes and forced five punts during non-league contest.
"For a first game, we didn't do too bad," Navarro said.
