Willie Soriano, Central Valley High School's new starting quarterback, attempted just four passes during last week's season opener.

Soriano and the Hawks executed their game plan to near-perfection in beating the host Falcons 43-6 Friday night in Atwater.

"It was fun even though there wasn't a whole lot of passing," Willie said. "We pounded the ball. I was a little nervous the first few plays. I gained more confidence with each drive."

Central Valley's revamped offensive unit-the Hawks graduated nine of 11 starters in June-amassed 267 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 46 carries.

Soriano ran for 39 yards and one touchdown on eight attempts.

He completed 2 of 4 passes for 25 yards.

"Willie did a very good job managing the offense," Edwards said. "It was fun for the other kids to see him get involved in the running game. The guys were rallying around him. His two misses, including one for a touchdown, were drops that were set up for big plays."

Jonathan Barragan rushed for a team-high 74 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.

"He was solid," Edwards said.

Gerardo Solorzano added 55 yards and a pair of TDs on 10 carries.

Nasson Sanchez gained 36 yards and scored one touchdown on seven carries.

Cory Cantaloube, Estevan Barragan, Carlos Rodriguez and Gabe Campos finished with 21, 18, 15 and 12 yards, respectively.

Central Valley was penalized eight times for 55 yards.

The Hawks lost four of seven fumbles.

Oso Fregoso was Central Valley's defensive leader.

Fregoso registered 81/2 tackles and one sack.

Gabriel Quezada filled the stat sheet with four tackles, one sack, one force fumble and one fumble recovery.

David Serrano had four tackles and one fumble recovery.

Sanchez had 31/2 tackles and one forced fumble.

Jonny Velasquez had three tackles and one interception.

Angel Rico had three tackles and one sack.

"We punted once on the night," Edwards said. "I'm definitely not complaining. Defensively, we were really solid. Our guys up front (Fregoso, Quezada, Serrano, Erik Mejia, Eduardo Tovar, David Lezama and Josh Barrita) controlled the line of scrimmage. That's our strength right now. But we have to fix and clean up some stuff. We did a lot of things sloppily on offense. We certainly didn't overachieve. We played a solid game for Week One."

Central Valley overwhelmed Atwater with a 22-0 barrage in the first quarter.

Jonathan Barragan capped the Hawks' opening drive with a 14-yard touchdown run.

Solorzano and Soriano tallied TDs on runs of 6 and 14 yards, respectively.

Sanchez electrified his Hawk teammates and coaches with a bone-jarring tackle in the backfield.

"Our defense set the tone for the game," Soriano said. "Our offense fed off of that."

Jonathan Barragan, Solorzano and Sanchez scored on runs of 2, 15 and 4 yards in the third quarter.

Atwater honored its 1996 Sac-Joaquin Section Division-I runner-up team prior to last week's game.

The Falcons had to settle for being second-best again as the Hawks won the non-conference clash decisively.

Central Valley also spoiled Nelson Medeiros' heading coaching debut.

"I'm pretty satisfied," Soriano said. "Overall, we did pretty well for our first game. It's great knowing we have a lot of weapons."

Central Valley has won eight of its last 10 games dating back to the 2015 season.
"Coach expects a lot from us," Soriano said. "He knows the potential we have."

Central Valley will travel to Manteca this Friday to face 2015 CIF Division IV-A State Bowl Champion Sierra.

The non-conference contest will get underway at 7 p.m.