Friday Night Lights: Week 5
Stars shine bright in the City of Calexico, three Yuma teams stay hot
YUMA, Ariz., (KYMA, KECY) - In a week that featured a lot of local teams on the road, the spotlight grew for some eye-catching battles in both Yuma and the Imperial Valley.
Once the dust settled, the City of Calexico reigns supreme early on with both Calexico (5-0) and Vincent Memorial (4-0) staying perfect.
In Yuma - Gila Ridge has already surpassed last season's win total, starting 2-0, while the Criminals and Shamrocks each win their third straight.
HOLTVILLE - 0 CALEXICO - 39
It was a rematch and the next chapter of a newborn rivalry after two thrilling games in 2021 - ending with a Calexico win in Holtville to advance to the CIF Division 5 semi-finals in November.
This time around, it would not be a close finish with the Dogs touting the home field crowd.
The Bulldogs entered the night at (4-0) for only the third time in this century, looking to start (5-0) for the first time since 2016.
After a 75-yard touchdown run from Zeus Pradis on Calexico's first offensive play to open the scoring, the defense took over as it has done all season - stopping Holtville on fourth down in two out of three drives.
It would be Pradis who then scored the second touchdown, and capped off by a passing score from sophomore quarterback Sean Torres to Marco Esquer to go up 19-0 before the half and running away with their second straight shutout.
Calexico outpaced Holtville's lethal rushing attack 251 to 17 on the night, totaling 330 yards to the Vikings' 84 yards.
Holtville falls to (3-2) after winning their first three, while Calexico stays perfect - outscoring their opponents now 181-58 through five games.
CETY'S MEXICALI - 21 VINCENT MEMORIAL - 42
Staying in the border city, the Scots took the same field one night earlier on Thursday - touting their perfect record.
And it would stay that way.
The Scots offense once again torched the opposing defense behind another 300+ total yard game through the air and on the ground from quarterback Jacobo Elias - who also scored three total touchdowns.
The Scots have now scored 35+ points in three of their four games.
They take their (4-0) record to Chula Vista in a meeting with Bonita Vista next week, before heading back home to kickoff Desert League play with Palo Verde.
IMPERIAL - 9 PALO VERDE - 33
Speaking of Palo Verde, the Yellow Jackets stayed scorching hot on Friday night behind their prolific rushing attack - winning their fourth straight after the stunning loss to Calexico in week one.
It wouldn't come easy with the Imperial Tigers in town who came in at (3-0), but Wally Grant's Jackets once again proved to be too much, handing David Shaw and the Tigers their first loss.
SANTE FE CHRISTIAN - 46 SOUTHWEST - 0
Meanwhile, staying in the Imperial Valley, it was another night to forget for the Southwest Eagles who struggled to handle the Eagles on the other sideline.
It was already a tough night before opening kickoff as they had to go without their quarterback Logan Jungers due to injury, while also dealing with a heavily-delayed kickoff time.
The Eagles have now only scored 27 points in four games and get back at it next week in the El Centro City Championship game with a very tough Central Spartans team.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel with a trip to the winless Kofa Kings in two weeks.
GILA RIDGE - 19 CIBOLA - 6
Now to the best rivalry in Yuma, where the Gila Ridge Hawks traveled a short distance to Raider Field in Cibola looking to start perfect and surpass last season's win total, while Cibola hoped to snag its first win.
In the battle of young-tenured coaches, Jessica Slaughter in her second year was able to outduel first-year head coach Kasey Koepplin in a low scoring game.
The Hawks now get a head start towards the Yuma City Championship with the early win and avenge last year's 23-14 loss to the Raiders in the season finale.
ARETE PREP - 49 SAN PASQUAL - 6
After collecting their first win since 2017 in a week one win over Catalina, the Warriors have fallen in two straight - only totaling six points in the losses.
They will be back in action next week in a trip to Kingman, who the Yuma Criminals handled easily this week.
OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD:
YUMA (3-2) - 34 KINGMAN - 0
YUMA CATHOLIC (3-0) - 28 LAKE HAVASU - 14
CENTRAL (2-2) - 7 GRANITE HILLS - 42
ANTELOPE (1-3) - 7 SANTA CRUZ VALLEY - 53
CALIPATRIA (0-4) - 7 SOUTHWEST (SD) - 21
