Huskies bounce back, belt East Valley 55-21 victory
Bob Barrett<br /> Junior outside linebacker Sam Azevedo tackles East Valley's Alex Hampton for a loss during the Huskies 55-21 victory at Moxee last Friday night.
Bob Barrett<br /> Asai Villarreal escapes the defense of East Valley's Lucas Juarez to catch a 15-yard touchdown pass on the Huskies' first possession.
OTHELLO – A balanced attack and a strong defensive effort helped Othello run away with a 55-21 road victory over East Valley last Friday night.
“That is the way to bounce back after the loss to Connell,” Huskie coach Roger Hoell said. “That is a testament to your character. How you bounce back after a loss like that when you come out and play like that is awesome.
“Now we need to keep it going. Every week we need to get better and every Friday we need to play like we did last Friday.”
Senior tailback Reese Jones ran over, through and around the East Valley defense for 180 yards and three touchdowns. Junior quarterback D.J. Guzman completed nine of 13 passes for 147 yards and four touchdowns.
Wide receiver Kyler Villarreal completed a 48-yard pass to Micah Giles on a reverse play to give Othello 195 total passing yards to go along with 206 rushing yards.
Guzman threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Asai Villarreal on the Huskies' first possession. The junior quarterback also tossed a pair of touchdown passes to senior tight end Miguel Garcia and a fourth scoring throw to Hilmes out of the backfield.
The Dawgs defense contributed mightily to the win. Cornerback Luis Gomez tackled East Valley wide receiver Seth Valenzuela, forcing a fumble Huskie linebacker Trevor Hilmes picked up and ran back 40 yards for a touchdown on the Red Devils' second offensive play of the game.
Phillip Pruneda stripped the ball from East Valley quarterback Lucas Juarez, and Huskie linebacker Abel Gomez pounced on the ball to put the Huskies in position for another score.
The Huskie defense tackled Juarez in the end zone for a safety early in the third quarter to add more points to the Othello ledger.
“The whole team played better, but there is no doubt the defense played much better,” Hoell said. “They played fast. They did an awesome job.”
The inside power running game struggled. Hilmes gained 18 yards on five carries. But Jones got most of his yards on sweep plays as the Huskie offensive line pinned the Othello defense to the inside.
This Friday the Huskies will host the 1-1 Selah Vikings, This will continue their tour of seven straight games against opponents who figure to be battling for the third playoff spot in the CWAC.
“This Friday will be a huge game,” Hoell said. “We lost by one to Selah last year, but we are a better team.”
A victory over Selah would give the Huskies momentum prior to a pair of road games at Toppenish and Grandview. Othello could be 4-0 when the Ephrata Tigers invade Huskie Stadium on Friday, Oct. 7.