By “Big” Tony Solorzano
(Boyle Heights) – Brandon Sifuentes scored on his own twice and threw for a third touchdown as the LA City Section’s Roosevelt High defeated Alhambra 34-20 to open the 2009 season Friday night at Roosevelt.
A breakdown on both defense and special teams contributed to the poor showing of the Moors (0-1), despite some late air power by quarterback Darrin Cazarin. Cazarin was 9 for 20 in the second half, including his 4-yard touchdown strike to Joseph Becerra a quarter of the way through the final quarter, however, he was picked off twice, including his final pass of the night.
“We’ll get better as the team progresses,” said head coach Gil Ruedaflores. “We made some defensive adjustments at halftime and the offensive line was able to get Darrin time to see his targets.”
After exchanging touchdowns in the first quarter, a 20-yard run by the Riders’ Jesse Lira with five minutes left in the quarter and a 12-yard pass by Cazarin to James Martin with two minutes left, Sifuentes broke the game open with two scoring runs, a 25-yard run with 7:22 left in the half and a 10-yard run with 16 seconds left in the game. The second score came after Cazarin fumbled a snap and the Rider defense recovered the ball.
In the third quarter, The Moors defense finally shut down Sifuentes’ opening drive, foring the Riders to punt, however, on their next drive, Sifuentes hooked up with Brian Torres for a 40-yard score, giving the Riders a 27-7 lead after the point after attempt by Byron Pivaral was wide.
In the fourth, Cazarin finally broke the scoring drought, launching a 44-yard strike to Joseph Becerra after scrambling out of the reach of a Roosevelt blitz. However, the Moors’ special teams broke down on the ensuing kick off as John Mariscal returned the kick 82 yards for the score.
Cazarin had one final score left, needing five minutes to move 60 yards for a 1-yard run with 22 seconds left in the game. Although Alhambra recovered the onside kick, Cazarin was picked off as time ran out.
The Moors were scheduled to play La Canada next Friday but because of the current fires, the team was forced to cancel their game due to a lack of practice time due to the air quality concerns in the area. Their next scheduled game is September 18th, at Temple City. However, Coach Ruedaflores said they are going to try to schedule a game against an opponent for this Friday.
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