Othello football beats Grandview to go 4-0 in league
Bob Barrett Photo - Kyler Villarreal beats Toppenish defender Reese Ramos to catch the ball and try to keep his feet inbounds near the sideline.
Bob Barrett Photo - Armando Barragan (52), Trevor Hilmes (32) and Isaiah Perez (44) stop Grandview's Christian Gomez. The Huskie defense has been key to their victories.
OTHELLO – The big yellow school bus from Othello returned from Grandview last Friday with a pack of happy Huskies, fresh off a 29-7 road victory over the Greyhounds.
The D.J. Guzman-Kyler Villarreal combination struck twice for touchdowns as Othello moved the ball through the air when its ground and pound attack was unable to move the ball.
“We are hitting more home runs,” Huskie coach Roger Hoell said. “We have more big plays, but we are having problems being consistent on offense. The execution of the blocking is not good.”
The Huskies almost hit a home run on the opening kickoff. Asai Villarreal caught the ball deep in Huskie territory and, with the help of some good blocks, broke into the open and headed toward a touchdown.
Somehow, with no defender close, Villarreal dropped the ball. He was able to get back to the ball and recover it to give Othello good field position on the Grandview 35-yard line.
A halfback pass from Asai Villarreal to Micah Giles and a personal foul penalty against Grandview moved the ball deep into Greyhound territory. Trevor Hilmes scored on a one-yard run, and Othello had a 7-0 lead just 37 seconds into the game.
The Huskies stretched the advantage to 13-0 when Guzman threw a long pass from the Huskie 22-yard line some 40 yards downfield to Kyler Villarreal, who outran the Greyhound defenders for a 78-yard touchdown.
“We decided to go for the home run and got it,” Hoell said. “The pocket was there for most of the game.”
Guzman connected with Villarreal for a 28-yard touchdown in the third quarter to give Othello a 19-7 lead. Irvin Sandoval booted a 24-yard field goal and Asai Villarreal added a six-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The Huskies gained 153 yards on 43 rushing attempts. Guzman was 4-14 passing for 115 yards, and Asai Villarreal threw twice from his tailback position for two completions and 65 yards.
Kyler Villarreal racked up 129 yards on three catches, and Micah Giles added 46 yards with two grabs.
Senior tailback Reese Jones, leading rusher in the CWAC, sat out the game nursing a high ankle sprain. He is not expected to play this week when Othello hosts Ephrata.
The Tigers will roll into Othello fresh off a 49-6 win over Wapato. The Tigers lost their first four games, including blowout losses of 48-0 to Selah and 55-18 to Toppenish.
“They (Ephrata) have been a thorn in our side for the last two years,” Hoell said.
The CWAC-leading Huskies plan to remove that thorn Friday. The win over Grandview keeps Othello tied with Ellensburg at 4-0 in the standings.