By N. Waddell
The football game against the Sentinels of the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind turned out to be a runway for the Lobos.
It did not take long for the Lobos Erik Rivera to find the end zone scoring on a long 56-yard run on the second play after the kick-off.
The two-point try failed for a 0 to 6 lead at 11:24 of the first quarter. The Lobos kicked off holding the Sentinels to three plays and a punt and on the second play after the punt the Lobos hit pay dirt again this time on a 38-yard run by Aaron Lagunas who was playing in the injured Adrian Ochoa position.
Lagunas got the call again on the two-point try to give Hayden a 14 to 0 lead. After holding the Sentinels to three plays and a punt, the Lobos nemeses raised its ugly head again; bad snaps and fumbles, to stop their next dive forcing a punt.
The Lobos again held the Sentinels to three and a punt and again after the punt Erik Rivera took off on a 40-yard romp for a touchdown and Roman Padilla converted on the two-point play to give Hayden a 22 to 0 lead with 3:14 left in the first quarter.
The Hayden coaches had seen enough and gave the reserves their chance to play and they responded well. They gave up a long run to the Sentinels with 2:18 in the first period scoring on a 43-yard run and took the ball over for the two points to cut the Lobo lead to 22 to 8 as the first quarter ended.
The young Lobos did a good job in the second quarter extending the lead to 46 to 8 on two long Lagunas runs and a 24-yard touchdown by Antonio Medina and a safety by Lobo defensive player Manny Armenta. The Sentinels did not give up getting to the young Lobo defense with a 75-yard pass and run play that had the Lobos missing several tackle attempts.
The two points cut the Lobo lead to 46 to 14. The long scoring play must have woken up the Hayden players. After the kick-off, Lagunas again took the handoff and took off on a 60-yard romp almost untouched for another touchdown.
With the two-point play unsuccessful, the Lobos took a 46 to 14 lead as the first half ended.
The second half started with the young Lobos still on the field. The Lobos kicked off to start the third quarter, caught the Sentinels trying to trick the young Lobos on a fake punt attempt that cost them when Lagunas again took the first play had-off and went on a 26-yard run for a touchdown with Medina getting the two points to up the Hayden lead to 60 to 14 and now a running clock on the field with the 42 point rule in effect.
The Lobos kicked off again, held the Sentinels to three plays and they again tried a fake punt attempt on fourth down only to be stopped by Louis Dominquez for no gain at the 25-yard line.
After two plays and the football still at the 25 yard line, Antonio Medina took the handoff and broke a couple of tackles on his way for a 25 yard touchdown run and the two point run after another fumble by the Lobos was good to up the Hayden lead to 68 to 14. The third quarter soon ended with the running clock and the Sentinels on a drive.
The Sentinels punched the football over the goal line for another touchdown, scored the two points to cut the lead to 68 to 22. The Lobos fumble problems continued. On the first play after the kick-off the Lobos turned the football over on a fumble and the Sentinels were on the drive again against the young Lobos scoring again on a one-yard plunge and with the two points now had cut the Lobo lead to 68 to 30.
That would be all of the scoring for the game as the Lobos took the kick-off and ran the time off the running clock for the 68 to 30 win over a scrappy ASBD Sentinel team that showed no giving up despite the lopsided score.
It took the Lobo offense only forty offensive plays to rack up 405 yards of total offense for the game led by Erik Rivera who rushed for 138 yards on only six carries, Aaron Lagunas who rushed for 163 yards on nine carries and Antonio Medina who had 58 yards on six carries.
Rivera and Medina each had two touchdowns, each had a two point run and each suffered a fumble. Lagunas scored four touchdowns also had a two-point play and suffered a fumble. Francisco Delgado and Jacob Manriquez also have to carry the football for the Lobos.
On defense, the Lobos held the Sentinels to 224 total yards on 63 plays from scrimmage with Francisco Merino, Robert Sandoval and Manny Armenta leading the way on the tackle chart with linebacker Rodney Ortiz also turning in a tough game with seven tackles and two pass deflects.
Sixteen of the eighteen players that suited up for the Lobos recorded tackles on defense.
The Lobos next assignment will be a tough one when the Tigers of St. David High School come to Lalo Serrano Lobo Stadium for the Lobos homecoming game. The Tigers are highly ranked in the Division VI standings.
The game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. kick-off but there will be many activities earlier in the day with the homecoming parade scheduled for 4:00 p.m. and a tailgate party following the parade. If the Lobos are up for the game, they should give the Tigers all they can handle and maybe more.
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