Leo Artiaga rushed for over 90 yards and scored a touchdown.
(La Puente) – South El Monte’s defense forced five turnovers and Leo Artiaga rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown as the Eagles beat Nogales 19-6 Friday night to open the season.
Javier Machua filled in at quarterback as Fernando Ramirez was in street clothes with an injured knee and backup Levi Wells won’t be eligible until October 1 under the 30 day transfer rule.
Machuca kept the ball on the the ground for the most part handing off to Artiaga 27 times and running it 11 times himself. Machuca had 40 yards rushing and when he did go to the air, completed nine of 15 for 107 yards and a touchdown.
After a scoreless first quarter , South took advantage of a Nogales turnover when Machuca hit Erick Zelaya for a 15 yard score with 8:11 left in the second. Later in the quarter, Machuca hit Zelaya for a 43 yard pass play to set up a 30 yard field goal by Augustin Pinto just before the half for a 10-0 lead at the break.
Neither team scored in the third and early in the fourth, the Eagles began to call Artiaga’s number. He carried the ball ten consecutive times and eventually punched it into the end zone for a one-yard score to break the Nobles spirit. The drive consisted of runs of 22, 14,8, and 8 yards.
“A lot of our guys were playing with the first game jitters I think, said South El Monte Coach Ibis Aguilar. “Leo definitley started playing his game and our offense really started rolling there in the fourth quarter.”
Nogales finally got on the board later in the final period when Antoise Fields got loose for a 38 yard touchdown run. Nogales got the ball back but was forced to punt and a bad snap sailed out of the endzone resulting in a safety and two points for the Eagles.
South El Monte intercepted Nogales quarterback Gabriel Ayala three times and also caused a pair of fumbles. Eric Garcia, Pablo Ocegueda and Aaron Saavedra all had picks and Ismael Gutierrez had a fumble recovery.
“We did a good job defensively on them but they never stopped. We got a lot of outside pressure on them on their one touchdown and they called a draw. It was a good offensive call,” Aguilar said.
Next week the Eagles are home against Montebello while Nogales (0-2) will hit the road to play Ontario. Ramirez should be back next week.
“It was just soft tissue on the knee but we wanted to give him an extra week just to be safe,” said Aguilar.
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