Southwest rallies past Calipatria to earn fourth win of the season

CALIPATRIA, Calif. (KYMA) — The final week of the high school football regular season got underway with a back-and-forth matchup between Southwest and Calipatria, as both teams looked to close out the year with a victory.

The Calipatria Hornets struck first in the second quarter when Rihann Potter powered his way into the end zone with a run up the middle, giving Calipatria a 14-7 lead after a failed two-point conversion.

Southwest answered with a big play of its own. Facing fourth down deep in its own territory, the Eagles opted to keep the ball in play rather than punt. Leo Valenzuela broke free for a big gain, setting up a touchdown connection between Ryan Fakih and Valenzuela. Fakih lofted a pass in the end zone, and Valenzuela came down with both feet in bounds to tie the game.

Calipatria regained the lead just before halftime. With seven seconds remaining, Justin Iniguez caught a pass and stepped out of bounds with one second left on the clock. Auri Amezquita then found Dominic Lopez on a crossing route as time expired, and Lopez took it into the end zone to give the Hornets a 20-14 halftime lead.

However, the Eagles flipped the script in the second half, shutting out Calipatria while mounting a comeback to earn a 28-20 victory.

With the win, Southwest finished with four victories for the first time since 2018. Meanwhile, Calipatria dropped its sixth consecutive game.