Williams 38 – Portola 28
A huge effort from Azael Velazquez lifted the Yellowjackets past Portola last Friday night at McCarl Field in their Mid-Valley League opener.
After having to sit out the Rice Bowl, Velazquez carried 28 times against the Tigers and finished with 309 of the ‘Jackets’ 375 yards on the ground and scored five times.
Not surprisingly, Coach Forrest Bateman was pleased with his running back’s performance saying, “He’s the home run hitter we’ve been missing the last couple years, but we also have three other guys who can contribute, so we are very happy with how we are running the ball.”
Bateman also commended the play of his offensive line which included Armando Medina, Omar Montero, Saul Rolon, Everardo Ornelas and Jesus Ruiz.
For the defense, Giovanni Luna made a team-high 12 tackles, Javier Saavedra made nine, while Ornelas, Ruiz, Ricardo Medina and Isaac Guererro finished with seven apiece.
Williams (4-1, 1-0) hits the road this week to take on Hamilton City.
Pierce 20 – Paradise 17
Defensive heroics saved the day for the Bears, who according to Coach Anthony Tapia needed two pick sixes to emerge with the win in their first Sacramento Valley League contest.
“It was a crazy game,” said Tapia. “They are so tough. We were down a few linemen and struggled to move the ball and they made some adjustments to slow down the passing game.”
Timmy Vega had the first interception for a touchdown, while Alex Ramirez followed up with the one that proved to be the game winner.
Austin Jorge led the offense with 75 yards passing and another 62 on the ground.
Pierce (3-2) has another tough task this week when it hosts unbeaten East Nicolaus at Gregg LeMaster Field.
Maxwell 21 – Quincy 6
The Panthers took care of business in a Mid-Valley League matchup with the Trojans on the road in Quincy.
Vincent Orozco ran for 119 yards and a touchdown, while Lucas Bowen rushed for 84 yards and two scores to pace the offense.
Defensively, Landon Barrett had a big night making 14 tackles, Victor Martinez collected nine and caused a fumble with Colt Montgomery tallying seven including three for losses.
This week Maxwell (4-1, 1-0) entertains Portola and will also recognize its 2006 Northern Section championship team.
Colusa 7 – Winters 45
There wasn’t much for the Colusa crowd to cheer about in a lopsided Sacramento Valley League loss to visiting Winters.
Statistics from the game were not provided by the RedHawks (2-2, 0-1) who look to bounce back on Oct. 2 in Durham.