Jurupa Valley, CA—As opening games go, this one was as good as it gets.
“Man, it was fun all night,” said receiver Kalvin Leon about Colton’s 61-0 victory over the Jurupa Valley Jaguars.
“Everybody did their stuff, did what they had to do. It was just a fun game.”
The victory picks up where the team left off last year when they put up huge numbers against opponents en route to a 8-1 record and the Skyline League championship.
“Offense was firing. Special teams was firing. Defense was firing,” said junior quarterback Koa Regalado after the game.
He wasn’t wrong.
From the kickoff, the Yellowjackets stomped all over the Jurupa Valley Jaguars. The offense scored on all six of their drives, defense added two more, and even special teams got in on the action with a touchdown of their own.
On offense, Regalado continued to shine, throwing for 200 yards and three touchdowns to three different receivers, including a 50-yard bomb to Ethan Moreno in the second quarter. Running back duo Tyler Zesk and Isaiah Garcia each scored a touchdown as well.
On defense, both Zesk and Julian Gonzalez found the endzone on fumble recoveries. Zesk ran for a 38-yard touchdown when Jurupa Valley fumbled on second-and-ten at the five minute mark of the second quarter. Gonzalez wasted no time in the third quarter, stripping Jurupa Valley quarterback Alex Lopez of the ball and taking it to the endzone for a 35-yard touchdown.
“All I did was just dominate,” Gonzalez said. “You know, I try to strip the ball all the time, try to get fumbles . . . and overall just dominate.”
And special teams put points on the board, too, when Troy Pouvi returned a Jurupa Valley punt for a touchdown late in the third.
According to head coach Ray Rodriguez, the recipe for the victory was just keeping it simple on the field. “We knew this week was gonna be more about refining some things, and we kept it pretty simple. The boys did a really good job of doing the simple things correctly, doing the small things correctly. And that’s why you are able to see some of the success that we had.”
The Yellowjackets will look to continue building on this success next week against Eisenhower in their first home game of the season. Eisenhower will come into Colton with a record of 0-1, losing on Friday to Moreno Valley 14-0.
San Andreas League Notes
Kaiser (0-1) loses to Carter (1-0), 26-6. The Cats defense gives up 19 points in the second quarter and comes up short in their fourth quarter rally, dropping their first game of the season to the Lions.
San Gorgonio (0-1) loses to Victor Valley (1-0), 66-0. The Jackrabbits jumped all over the Spartans in the first half, scoring 50 of their 66 points.
Rim of the World (0-0) had a first week bye. They will play at Big Bear (1-0) on Aug. 29.
