Scots win fifth straight to keep pace in the Desert League race
Sophomore QB Jacobo Elias totals six touchdowns in route of Calipatria on Saturday night
EL CENTRO, Calif. ( KYMA, KECY-TV ) - Vincent Memorial head coach David Wong took a wait and see approach entering this season. His Vincent Memorial Scots are very young and after an 0-2 start to begin the season, which includes a 55-8 loss to San Diego and a 28-27 loss to Southwest, the Scots inexperiece stuck out like a sore thumb. Since then the Scots have rattled off five straight wins.
"We're getting there," Wong said. "We haven't put it all together yet."
On Saturday, the Scots hosted Desert League foe, Calipatria at Cal Jones Field in El Centro. At the half Vincent Memorial led 14-7, not the start they were hoping for against a two win team during the Scots senior night.
"We started slow but, we kept our cool and played more exclusive," Sophomore QB Jacobo Elias said. "We can't keep being lazy in the first half, but yeah, we always come up strong."
Elias has burst onto the scene as was virtually an unknown.
"We first saw him this spring," Wong said. "He was a freshman that we had to elevate to varsity because of our low numbers. We had him at wide receiver."
As the COVID shortened spring season went on, Elias started to turn some heads.
"He was very athletic," Wong said. "We could see that right away and he kept progressing."
When starting QB Diego Elorduy went down with an injury early in the season, Wong turned to his young sophomore.
"We were like now what?" Wong said. "We had Jacobo as are backup and that's what we went with."
The sophomore stepped up to the challenge and has since lead the Scots to five straight wins.
"He's very smart, he played Pop Warner, I've known him since he was a little kid," Assistant Coach Fernando Santana said. "He's got a football mind so that means a lot. He needs to learn a little bit more about leadership so he can run the offense much better, but yes, he's going to be great."
The Scots have had to adjust since the preseason. First they lost their starting running back. To adjust, the Scot deployed an empty back field and started five wide receivers with juniors Andre Rodriguez and Armando Apodaca taking carries when needed. Also, Jacobo Elias has used his legs when needed looking that a young version of Russell Wilson weaving his way through defenders.
On Saturday night, Elias completed passes to six different receivers, throwing for over 250 yards and three scores, two of which went to senior and former starting QB Diego Elorduy. Elias also ran for three scores. What was a 14-7 game at half turned into a 41-7 win with Elias and the Scots scoring 27 unanswered points. Elias is also the team's kicker.
The win puts the Scots in a first place tie with Palo Verde at 2-0 in Desert League play. The Scots next head to Holtville in a game that could very well decide the league championship. Holtville is coming off an eyebrow raising 40-8 loss to Palo Verde. Holtville began the year 5-0 and have since lost their last two in a row.
"I'm looking forward to seeing the game tape," Wong said. "We know they're a good team, excited to see what happened."
The kids are excited, it's a big game for us, they're excited, it's a rivalry, it's always a rivalry against Holtville - Scots assistant coach Fernando Santana
Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at Birger Field in Holtville and will feature two different styles of play, Holtville running attack against Vincent Memorial's air assault.
