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Thursday night’s offensive slugfest on the Westside ended in Cabrillo’s first win of the season, 49-32, over visiting LA Jordan.
“I am proud of [these] guys,” Cabrillo coach Shane Gonzales said. “[They] had a tough week of practice, they answered the bell.”
The Jaguars jumped out to an early lead and led 28-16 held off a late charge from LA Jordan.
“This Jordan team was very physical, they didn’t have a lot of guys, but boy, the guys they did have out there, they are some tough kids,” Gonzales said. “I am proud of our guys for how they didn’t quit, and we stayed better this week.”
LA Jordan started off the game feeding senior do-it-all David Sandy, until a botched handoff and fumble recovery by junior Joe Gogue gave the Jaguars excellent field position.
Cabrillo sophomore quarterback Fernando Leanos started the drive finding senior tight end Isreal Clayton for a big gain, and then senior running back Antonio Elam capped the drive with a 38-yard run and a 7-0 lead.
The Jaguar defense stayed hot and forced a turnover on downs on 4th and 11 at the Cabrillo 39-yard line
Elam provided some breathing room with two big runs. Leanos linked up with senior receiver Isaiah Miranda up the seam for a 13-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
LA Jordan’s Sandy cut the lead to 13-8, but Cabrillo senior Keyon Smith gave his team great field position with a return to the Bulldogs 27-yard line.
Smith then finished the drive with a touchdown coach and 20-8 lead with under five minutes left in the half.
Sandy and the Bulldogs responded with a 61-yard score to cut the lead to 20-16, but Smith delivered another long return into the red zone Leanos would find a dragging Clayton, who got bumped out at the 7-yard line.
Leanos let Smith finish the drive again with a screen for the score. On the PAT, a high snap forced the holder Miranda to release from his position, but he made a mad dash to the pylon for the impromptu 2-point conversion and a 28-16 halftime lead.
Cabrillo kept the offense humming into the second half with Elam pounding the rock, dipping, ducking, and diving to the Bulldogs’ 16-yard line. Leanos connected with a fading Smith in the endzone and the Jaguars extended their lead to 35-16 with 9:37 left in the third.
Later in the quarter, Leanos hit Miranda up the seam to go up 42-16.
The Bulldogs stopped the bleeding, as Sandy and his fellow senior Amarui Powns converted on a 4th and 1 at the Jaguar 15. Sandy again would find the end zone and convert the two-pointer on a quarterback sneak as the Bulldogs cut the score to 42-24.
Smith’s return once again put Cabrillo in scoring position and a few plays later Elam dove in for a 49-24 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Bulldogs’ Sandy scored again late but the Jaguars held on 49-32.
“I’m excited, I’m proud of the boys,” Gonzales said. “We challenged them this week. They and we [as a coaching staff] thought they weren’t physically prepared last week, so we challenged them this week.”
Cabrillo will close out non-league action with two long road trips to Carpinteria on Sept. 6 and Big Bear on Sept. 13. The Jaguars return to the Westside to open Moore League play against Millikan on Sept. 20.
