Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer
The JV Horses came out firing on all cylinders last Thursday in Geronimo as they defeated Navarro 5-1 in teach team’s final scrimmage before their season openers this Thursday. Devine takes on San Antonio Memorial. The JV and Freshman teams will combine for a single game at Veterans Memorial Stadium with kickoff scheduled for 5:30pm.
“We were much improved this week after scrimmaging Pleasanton and getting another week of practice under our belt,” said JV Offensive Coordinator Heath Poppe. “The offensive linemen and tight ends created some huge holes for our running backs to get through.”
Poppe was referring to Wyatt Stevens, Sam Diaz, Luis Jimenez, Robert Hernandez, Henry Ramirez, Adam Guerrero, and Ethan Appling as the studs of his offensive line group while the referenced tight ends were Gavin Socarras, Tate Wisenbaker, and Aidan Salazar.
“Quarterback Jacob Rodriguez did an excellent job passing the ball the week,” Poppe continued with his post-scrimmage assessment. “His pocket presence has really improved and his arm strength has increased considerably.”
Devine got things started quickly with Eli Contreras hitting paydirt from 4-yards out to put the first of five touchdowns on the board for the JV. Anthony Saldivar got the first of his two touchdowns on a 2 yard run to make it 2-0 Horses.
Edward Perez made it 3-0 on a 1-yard run before Navarro flipped the script with their own 1-yard run to pull within 3-1.
Contreras got his second touchdown of the evening on a 15-yard pass reception from Rodriguez to give Devine its three-touchdown lead back at 4-1.
Saldivar scored the final touchdown for either team on an 18-yard run, providing the 5-1 final score.
“I can’t wait for these games to start counting. Hopefully we can continue this offensive onslaught throughout the season,” Poppe said in closing.
Give ‘em the D!
Devine’s five-touchdown performance on the offensive side of the ball is well worth highlighting. However, with the type of offensive numbers Navarro has consistently put on the stat lines the last couple of decades one might have expected the Panthers to get more than just a single touchdown.
“I feel like our kids really showed up on both sides of the ball,” said JV Defensive Coordinator Bart Oropeza. “Even that one touchdown took a lot of effort for them to execute. All of our players brought out their full intensity on their side of the ball.”
According to Oropeza, spotlight players defensively were all the defense players. Tate Wisenbacker, Eli Contreras, Gavin Socarras, Adam Guerrero, Tony Saldivar, Jacob Rodriguez, Robert Hernandez, Ethan Appling, Aiden Salazar, Alfredo Ramirez, Edward Perez, Sam Diaz, and Trinidad Hernadez.