Huskies pick up first win on the gridiron

Bob Kirkpatrick/The Sun Tribune - The Huskies celebrate after Hunter Sparks (31) recovered a Prosser fumble at Othello's 1-yard line.

Bob Kirkpatrick/The Sun Tribune - Isaiah Perez breaks three tackles in route to a 38-yard touchdown in the first quarter of action.

by Bob Kirkpatrick Sun Tribune
| September 21, 2017 1:00 AM

Bob Kirkpatrick/The Sun Tribune - Isaiah Perez breaks three tackles in route to a 38-yard touchdown in the first quarter of action.

Othello came up big on both sides of the ball to corral the Mustangs 34-13 in a Friday night CWAC matchup at Huskie Stadium.

It was a much need win for the home team after dropping back to back nonleague games on the road at Connell and Royal City.

“The team as a whole displayed a lot of heart — they did a tremendous job of rebounding from Monday’s loss (35-0 at Royal),” coach Roger Hoell said. “We told them they had to have a short term memory and they definitely showed that in a big way.”

Othello’s defense came up big early in the first quarter when Hunter Sparks pounced on a loose ball at the Huskies 1-yard line to stop a Prosser scoring drive. The home team put the first points on the board after Senior Kyler Villareal, who got the nod at quarterback replacing an injured D.J. Guzman, hooked up with Isaiah Perez for a 38-yard score (Patrick Azevedo PAT) to give Othello a 7-0 lead.

The 2015 2A state champion Mustangs answered back with a 20-yard Kord Tuttle scamper (PAT) to tie it 7-all.

Things got a little sloppy for both teams in the second 12 minutes of action as hankies littered the stadiums’ newly refurbished playing field. Prosser threatened late in the quarter, but was turned back after Patrick Azevedo intercepted a Will Weinmann pass at the Huskies 2-yard line and the score remained knotted at the half.

Othello’s special teams unit hung six points on the board in the third quarter when a snap sailed over the head of the Mustangs punter and was recovered in the end zone by Tanner Butcher (PAT) to put Othello back up top 14-7.

Prosser responded with a 30-yard pitch and catch from Weinmann to Will Thompson. Anthony Veliz blocked the extra point and the Huskies held a slim 14-13 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Othello blew the game wide open with 20 unanswered points in the final 12 minutes on two Trevor Hilmes touchdown runs and a rushing TD from Isaac Barragan.

The Huskies ground attack produced 236 yards on the night led by Hilmes who toted the rock 15 times for 114 yards. Villareal completed three of six passes for 67 yards and added 15 carries for 74. Their opportunistic defense created six turnovers in the game.

Othello opens its CWAC North schedule against the 2-1 Jacks at Quincy on Friday.