By Duane Barker
(West Covina, CA) The West Covina Bulldogs played host to the Paloma Valley Cougars Friday night in the first round of the CIF Division X playoffs at Thyberg Field on the campus of West Covina High School. The Bulldogs dominated the line of scrimmage opening up holes for the ground game and came away with a 30-16 victory.
Who was the main benefactor of the line play? Why that would be Zander Requena who carried the ball 33 times for 286-yards and three touchdowns. Not a bad evening’s work!
In all the Bulldogs amassed more than 329-yards on the ground with Angel Murillo and Ethan Mendez chipping in as West Covina didn’t throw a single pass on the night.
The defense did thier job as well holding in check a potent Cougar offense led by Brady Nelson and his 32 total touchdowns on the season.
Paloma Valley won the toss and elected to receive. West Covina forced a punt after three plays and got their turn from their own 39.
The Bulldogs covered the 61-yards on eight plays with Requena getting his first score on a 14-yard run. West Covina went for two but Requena was stopped short.
The 6-0 lead held up for the rest of the first quarter and it wouldnt be until 8:53 left in the second before either team would score again.
When a 13-play drive stalled at the Cougar 5, Donavan Romero trotted onto the field and booted through a 27-yard field goal.
The Bulldogs pushed their advantage to 16-0 when Requena scored on a 17-yard run to cap a 3-play drive.
The score was set up with some assistance from Paloma Valley. After being stopped and forced to punt, the first punt attempt was downed at the Bulldog 20. However, and illegal formation was called and the Cougars had to punt again. Unfortunately, once again they lined up incorrectly and were flagged again. To make matters worse, they did it for a third time. Once they got it corrected and the punt away, the Bulldogs were in business at the Cougar 49.
The score remained 16-0 until 1:42 to play in the first half. Damien Ramirez capped a 80-yard drive with an 8-yard run and two point conversion to cut West Covina’s lead in half.
The Bulldogs got an outstanding play on special teams in the third quarter to set up their next score. Miles Reid got through the Cougar blockers and blocked a punt. After all the scrambling for the ball was over, West Covina had the ball first and goal at the one.
Mendez got the call this time from one yard away and converted. Romero added the extra point and the Bulldogs were up 23-8.
The Bulldogs appeared to be marching towards another score when Murillo coughed up the ball at the Paloma Valley 11. The Cougars took full advantage of the turnover marching 89-yards on 5-plays for the score. Nelson connected with Jeffrey Blalock on passes of 35 and 45-yards for a touchdown. The 35-yarder came on a fourth and one.
Ramirez once again converted the two point conversion to cut the lead to 23-16 early in the final frame.
The Bulldogs went back to work on the ensuing drive grinding yardage and the clockwith a 7-play 55-yard drive. Requena got to paydirt for the third time on a 22-yard run.
Paloma Valley’s last hope was dashed when a Brady pass deep down the middle was intercepted by Sebastian Martinez at his own twelve.
From there West Covina strung together a couple of first downs before lining up the “V” formation.
Up next for West Covina is a battle with Beckman who are coming off a 14-9 victory over Capistrano Valley Christian.
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