Dons intently looking on. Photo By Anne Cypress
(GLENDALE) – A fourth and two yards-to-go stop by a tenacious Sierra Vista defense was the difference in a 12 – 8 victory over Hoover in both teams season openers.
The Tornadoes squandered two consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory for the Dons who were anything but impressive on offense.
“Our kids battled all night long,” said Sierra Vista head coach Keith Locklear. “Last year, this team would have lost that game. The defense won the game for us. The offense will get better after tonight, I think lack of being able to practice hurt us on conditioning.”
Hoover had to play without standout-injured quarterback A.J. Pule (five of 10 for 61 yards and a interception) for the entire second half and almost won for the first time in three seasons.
The Tornadoes appeared to be on their way to tie the game with 3:59 to play in the game only to have Elvis Fuentes (3 catches for 51 yards) fumble on the Don one-yard line. Fuentes then watched helplessly as the football bounced out of the end zone for a touchback.
Dons force a turnover at critical time of the game. Photo By Anne Cypress
Hoover would have one last chance as their defense was able to score a safety as Sierra Vista quarterback Mark Perez, who was seven of nine for 146 yards and a touchdown, could only watch the shotgun snap go out of the end zone.
Tornadoes wide receiver DeVaughn Williams returned the kick 19-yards to their 47-yard line for the deciding drive. Two runs by player-of-the-game Ivan Tello (28 carries for 164 yards) that totaling 13-yards gave Hoover a first and ten on the Dons’ 40-yard line.
On third and ten, backup quarterback Stephen Choi found Tello for six yards that would have set up a fourth and four at the Sierra Vista 34-yard line. A personal foul penalty by the Dons after the play, gave the Tornadoes a first and ten at the 19-yard line.
After two stops by the Dons defense, Choi found Williams for a six-yard pass play set the table for the final play of the game.
Hoover’s coaching staff opted to send out their goal-line formation to catch the Sierra Vista defense off-guard, only to have Choi mishandle the handoff to Tello that allowed the Dons to stuff them for a three-yard loss and secure the victory.
“Too many mistakes hurt us,” said Hoover head coach Christopher Long. “We never could catch up on our mistakes. These kids really did a great job fighting back. I love it at Hoover. These are a great group of kids and we will turn things around.”
Don's quarterback Mark Perez. Photo By Anne Cypress
Sierra Vista was the first to score in the game after Jose Maldonado intercepted Pule’s first pass of the game and returned it to the Hoover 30-yard line. Five plays later, Gabriel Avila received the handoff and dove in from one-yard out to give the Dons a 6-0 lead.
The Tornadoes would answer back quickly as they masterfully ran off 5:22 of game clock and used 13 plays to tie the score on a Pule nine-yard run to tie the score.
The Dons took the lead for good with 1:13 to play, in the first half when Perez found Maldonado (two catches for 85 yards) wide open on a streak route for 77-yards on third and seven-yards to go. Williams who was covering for Hoover was left out on an island as the defense brought everything but the kitchen sink to stop Sierra Vista only to have it back fire.
Defensively, Ivan Abarenov’s three sacks and three tackles for loss led Hoover.
The sun sets on the Tornadoes again. Photo By Anne Cypress
1 2 3 4 F
SIERRA VISTA 6 6 0 0 12
HOOVER 6 0 0 2 8
SCORING:
SV – Gabriel Avila 1-yard run (2-pt attempt failed)
H – AJ Pule 9-yard run (2-pt attempt failed)
SV – Jose Maldonado 77-yard pass from Mark Perez (kick failed)
H – Safety
STATS:
Passing:
SV – Mark Perez 7-9-146-1-0
H – AJ Pule 5-10-61-0-1, Stephen Choi 4-7-32-0-0
Rushing:
SV – Perez 6-25, Nathan Carrillo 6-23, Gabriel Avila 4-15-1, David Flores 1-1, Clemente Corral 6-(-5)
H – Ivan Tello 28-164-0, Pule 6-21-1, DeVaughn Williams 4-16, Elvis Fuentes 1-5, Choi 2-(-15)
Receiving:
SV – Jose Maldonado 2-85-1, Carillo 3-37, Ramone Hernandez 1-16, Corral 1-8
H – Fuentes 3-51, Tello 3-23, Williams 2-13, Dymond McRae 1-6
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