Homecoming game ends in defeat
Varsity: Vanden 42, Armijo 6; JV: Vanden 41, Armijo 0
Photo by Ben Hershey on Unsplash
Vanden outscored Armijo, but it was not easy.
Thank you to all the students, staff, and community for a great atmosphere amidst all the homecoming festivities this past weekend! Despite the ending scoreline, the Royals battled in the varsity game against the reigning state champions and still harbor hopes of breaking a long playoff drought with our record at 3-3.
Varsity game: Vanden 42, Armijo 6
The game was defined by small margins: an early fumble by the Royals offense led to a 10-yard scoring drive by Vanden to open the scoring in the first quarter. However, a recovered fumble by Armijo’s Jordan Brown which gave the Royals’ offense a short field to tie up the game was not capitalized upon. Two blown coverages by the Armijo defense led to 34-yard and 54-yard touchdown passes by the Vikings, who led 21-0 nearing halftime.
At this point, Armijo began to find its footing in the game. The next six drives for Vanden, on either side of halftime, featured two punts, three turnover on downs, and a fumble lost. This was also highlighted by three goal line stops inside the 10-yard line.
In its opening drive after halftime, Armijo marched down the field to the 5-yard line only to come up short with no points. The drive was highlighted by a 41-yard catch by receiver Elijah Thompson from quarterback Willie Nickson. The Royals eventually got on the board with a three yard run by Nickson after a drive that also had a long distance connection, this one a 33-yarder from Nickson to receiver Michael Ferro.
Vanden tacked on three late scores in the last few minutes of the 4th quarter to make the game look more lopsided than it really was.
The Armijo defense held the Vanden offense scoreless for seven of its final eight drives, including almost the entirety of the second half. The defensive effort was spearheaded by lineback Jacob Winzer who had nine tackles, four for loss, one sack, and one fumble recovery. Lineman Dae Sparks had six tackles, three TFL, and one sack; linebacker Jayson Hubbard had five tackles, three for loss; Jericho Johnson was double and triple teamed all night, but still managed one tackle, one sack, and one TFL. Kymani Barker registered a sack from his safety position in his first game with the team.
JV game: Vanden 41, Armijo 0
The visiting Vikings came out strong, returning the opening kickoff to get out to a 7-0 lead. Following an interception by the Royals offense, the defense was able to stem the tide and recover a Vanden fumble. Unfortunately, this was the last positive news for the Royals defense in the half as the Vikings scored on their next four possessions, leading at half time 35-0.
The second half showed positive signs for Armijo: they held the Vanden offense scoreless, to only two yards, and with 0 first downs. An offensive highlight was a 20-yard catch and run from quarterback Gabriel Gomez to receiver Isaac Rodriguez. The Royals offense almost scratched across a score before the buzzer, ending the game only five yards from the end zone.
Individually, Amontay Overstreet led the way with four tackles; Gabriel Buciaga had a tackle for loss; Amir Boyd Vaughn and E’carri Jones had two tackles each; Camarri Hayes had a fumble recovery and a tackle.
