Friday Night Lights: Week 2
Several teams go on to start season 2-0, one notches first win in five years
YUMA, Ariz., (KYMA, KECY) - 11 local teams hit the gridiron in week two of high school football in the desert southwest, with some big winners with hot starts, others not faring so well.
Some big winners, moving on to a 2-0 start included Central, Vincent Memorial and Calexico.
While others including Imperial, Antelope and San Pasqual got the season off to the right start, winning their 2022 openers. The Warriors of San Pasqual even punching in their first win since the 2017 season.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Imperial Valley League power Brawley took their first lump of the year in a 27-21 loss at home to Valley Center - while the Yuma Criminals and Southwest Eagles could not recover after last week, starting 0-2.
VALLEY CENTER - 27 BRAWLEY - 21
The Wildcats came off an impressive win over defending 2A state champion Scripps Ranch in week one, but faltered to visiting Valley Center. They will get another chance at home next week against University City to get back to winning ways.
POINT LOMA - 14 CENTRAL - 30
The Spartans carried their momentum from a week one win at Mount Carmel where they put up 48 points - tallying up another 30 on Point Loma Friday.
The momentum shifted in their direction early after a bad snap on a punt from Point Loma went out of the back of the endzone for a safety. The Spartans then followed that up with a Charlie Sullivan touchdown run on direct snap on fourth-and-short to take a 9-0 first quarter lead.
The Pointers would answer to start the second quarter - but Central answered right back - Damien Rodriguez firing a bullet to Sullivan for a score. This was set up on a downfield connection from Rodriguez to Sergio Garcia to set them in deep in Point Loma territory.
The Spartans ran away with it in the second half, sparked by another Sullivan score, ripping off an 80 yard touchdown scamper - giving the senior six total touchdowns through just two games.
VINCENT MEMORIAL - 46 SOUTHWEST - 7
The Scots looked to carry their success into week two after pulling off a comeback from a 21-6 deficit last week against San Diego.
They did just that.
Jacobo Elias led the way on another offensive slaughter - totaling 404 yards passing with three touchdown through the air, and then topped that with 41 rushing yards and two more scores on his feet.
The defense also came up big with two interceptions returned for touchdowns from Jose Carlos Saenz and Lucio Ascolani.
Vincent Memorial improves to 2-0, while the Eagles fall to 0-2.
WEST HILLS - 3 IMPERIAL - 21
The Tigers were hungry to get their first bite of the 2022 season after a first round playoff exit last year - and they handled business accordingly.
A giant shift in the first half came after a 93-yard scoop and score from Seth Shaw - leading the Tigers to victory.
MOUNTAINSIDE - 0 ANTELOPE - 47
The Rams kicked off a new era under first-year head coach Doug South with a blowout win at home - exploding for 47 points and continuing that shut down defense from a year ago.
It was a sloppy first half where each team traded fumbles twice, but the Rams handled business in the second half on their way to a season opening win.
CATALINA - 0 SAN PASQUAL - 28
And another shutout. This time coming from a team that hadn't won a single football game since the 2017 season - also under a brand new head coach in Manny Sanchez.
The Warriors also putting out a team that only played five games in 2021 due to a constant battle with injuries and Covid.
Ethan Jackovich stood out strong for the Warriors, making big plays on both sides of the ball, including an 85-yard pitch and catch that jump-started the blue and yellow to a big win.
MOHAVE - 60 YUMA - 6
Another tough week for the Criminals who were aiming to steal back a win after losing a two score lead in week one.
It didn't get much better at home this time around, getting beat up by a Mohave team that made it into the postseason last year before losing to none other than Yuma Catholic.
The Criminals look to get their season back on track next week in a trip to Antelope.
OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD
CALEXICO - 48 CASTLE PARK - 33
PALO VERDE - 35 COACHELLA VALLEY - 7
CALIPATRIA - 7 DESERT MIRAGE - 38
