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Ray’s Nathan Molar (#22) with the ball as Bryen Lopez (#68) and Tino Barragan (#11) come in to assist.
Playing with less than 16 players in uniform, the No. 7-ranked Ray football team still looked dominant in a 50 – 0 whitewash of No. 10 Valley Union in last Saturday’s first-round playoff game.
Already without starting quarterback Jaden Pace, who is in a walking boot, the Cats were missing other players from the lineup as well. Seniors Nathan Molar and Fabian Valenzuela picked up the slack in their teammates’ absence.
Nathan Molar (#22) races ahead of the Blue Devils. Fabian Valenzuela (#25) comes up behind.
Valenzuela threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more. Molar, who rushed for 165 yards, added four touchdowns, three of them in the first quarter, which ended with Ray leading, 22 – 0.
“We performed very well with the very little guys we had,” Molar told Copper Basin News. “We had people play positions they haven’t played before and they stepped up big time and got the job done.”
Valenzuela threw for 151 yards on 12-of-23 passing and rushed for 52 yards on 13 carries. One of Molar’s four scores came on a reception. Sophomore Alex Bravo also had a touchdown reception.
Fabian Valenzuela (#25) heads for a touchdown ahead of several Blue Devil defenders.
The Ray defense came up with seven interceptions in the game, including two each by Valenzuela and Tino Barragan. Schwartz, Chandler Coleman and Dakota Willis had one apiece.
Dyllin Lopez led the Cats’ defense with 14 tackles along with a pair of sacks. Gabriel Schwartz had 11, including a team-high three sacks. Molar contributed 10 tackles.
The Cats will face No. 2 Bagdad this Saturday in the second-round.
“We are ready for this challenge because we are a hungry team,” said Molar, looking toward the Sultans. “Our coaches will set us up for success and we believe in them like they believe in us.”
Andrew Luberda began writing for Copper Area News Publishers (CANP) in February 2013 after working 15 years in Healthcare Financial Management. Andy covers sports for 11 high schools. His stories are published in Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner and Superior Sun, in addition to the San Tan Valley Daily PRSS and CopperArea websites. Additionally, he has written human interest stories and business profiles. In May 2012, he earned an AAS in Sports Management at Central Arizona College before graduating with a BS in Communication from Arizona State University in 2014. He and his wife, Kelli, have three sons – AJ, Kyle, and Kade.
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