Panthers open new field with win over Wolves

Sierra Grande High School’s Alex Gonzalez (30) tackles Mountain Valley’s Jacob Martinez (23) for a loss in Friday’s game at John Roybal Jr. Field. The Panthers defeated the Wolves 57-0 (Courier photo by Ken Hamrick).

BLANCA – After not playing on its home campus for the better part of a year, the Sierra Grande High School football team finally opened the new John Roybal Jr. Field on Friday.

It was a good day for a field opening as the Panthers defeated Mountain Valley 57-0.

“It was good to come out here and christen the field with a win,” said SG coach Luis Corona. “It was nice to have a 57-0 shutout. So it worked out for us. We respect Mountain Valley and we played a hard game and they played a hard game. We just were able to come out on top.”

The Panthers had the first possession and it didn’t take them long to get on the scoreboard. Angelo Lucero ran 28 yards for a touchdown, however, the point-after attempt was no good.

A blocked punt set Sierra Grande up in good field position and it took advantage of the situation. Lucero scored on a 1-yard run, and Ayden Lopez booted the extra point (worth two points in 6-man football), and the Panthers led 14-0.

Special teams came up big again for Sierra Grande as Aron Ojeda returned a punt 41 yards for a touchdown. The point-after run failed and the Panthers led 20-0.

The Wolves drove deep into Panthers territory on their next possession. However, the drive stalled at the 16 and Mountain Valley turned the ball over on downs.

Sierra Grande scored again as Ojeda threw a 24-yard scoring strike to Lucero. The extra-point attempt again failed and the Panthers led 26-0 after the first quarter.

Tyler Kester set the Panthers up again with an interception, but this time the Wolves were able to make them turn the ball over on downs.

Sierra Grande scored again with 3:44 left in the first half. Ojeda handed off to Kester, and Kester pitched the ball back to Ojeda who went 32 yards for a touchdown. The point-after attempt was unsuccessful.

The Panthers scored one more time before halftime as Lucero returned a punt 37-yards. The kick was blocked and Sierra Grande led 38-0 at halftime.

The Panthers scored the first time they had the ball in the second half. Lucero scored for the fifth time, this time on a 10-yard scamper. The kick was blocked and the lead stood at 44-0.

Sierra Grande scored another touchdown just before the end of the quarter and it was set up by an Adrian Casados interception. Lucero found the end zone for the sixth time on an 11-yard run. On the point after, the snap was bobbled and Manuel Miranda pitched to Ayden Lopez who then threw to Carlos Lopez for the conversion (worth one point in 6-man).

The Panthers wrapped up the scoring in the fourth quarter as Kester scored on a 1-yard plunge. The kick was unsuccessful.

Sierra Grande had 276 yards of total offense with 227 coming on the ground. Lucero led the running game with 109 yards on 15 carries. Kester ran for 45 yards on 10 carries, and Ojeda had 39 yards on two carries.

Ojeda completed three of five passes for 49 yards. Lucero had all of the receiving yards.

Mountain Valley had only 62 total yards. Riley Heater led the Wolves’ offense as he ran for 31 yards on four carries and he completed 6 of 16 passes for 29 yards. Damien Ross was the leading receiver with four catches for 13 yards, and Jacob Martinez had two catches for 14 yards.

Sierra Grande (3-2, 1-1) will host Sangre de Cristo on Friday. Game time is at 1 p.m.

“We’re looking forward to Sangre,” Corona said. “We haven’t played them yet in 6-man. But we’re looking forward to it. I know they’re going to be getting better every week, and that’s the nature of the sport. You have to get better every week to get your young kids reps. So we’re looking forward to it.”

Mountain Valley (0-5, 0-3) will host Miami-Yoder on Saturday. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.

Sierra Grande 57, Mountain Valley 0

Mountain Valley 0 0 0 0 – 0

Sierra Grande 26 12 13 6 – 57

First quarter

SG – Lucero 28 run (kick failed), 8:43

SG – Lucero 1 run (A. Lopez kick), 5:54

SG – Ojeda 41 punt return (run failed), 3:45

SG – Lucero 24 pass from Ojeda (kick failed), 0:31

Second quarter

SG – Ojeda 32 run (pass failed), 3:44

SG – Lucero 37 punt return (kick blocked), 1:18

Third quarter

SG – Lucero 10 run (kick blocked), 6:54

SG – Lucero 11 run (C. Lopez pass from A. Lopez), 2:20

Fourth quarter

SG – Kester 1 run (kick failed), 2:25