Othello dismantles Quincy in CWAC North opener

QUINCY — Othello’s night opened and ended with the spectacular in its 46-0 rout against Quincy in the CWAC North opener at Jaycee Stadium Friday night.

Efrain Palomares returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown and Estevan Ochoa scored on a 26-yard scoop-and-score as time ran out.

Othello moved into a tie for first in the North standings with Ephrata (4-0, 1-0), but the play the rest of the CWAC might want to note came in the second quarter with a nice little personnel change.

Othello coach Roger Hoell moved his 6-foot-4 wide receiver Kyler Villarreal to quarterback last week to play for injured starter DJ Guzman. Guzman is back, but Villarreal got the start at quarterback against the Jacks (2-2, 0-1) in the conference opener.

The Huskies’ staff set up a size mismatch in the red zone with a little over three minutes left in the first half, bringing Guzman in and sending the Villarreal outside for one-on-one coverage with Jacks corner Gates Petersen. Guzman lofted a jump ball to his 6-4 receiver, who went up against the 5-10 defensive back to haul in a 16-yard touchdown.

“It was a surprise to me when coach called it, because we didn’t really practice anything like that. But that’s what DJ and I have been doing for a long time,” said Villarreal, who finished with two rushing touchdowns and the touchdown reception. “I kind of like it. Switching back every now and then is the best of both worlds.”

For a minute there, it was one pass, one catch, one touchdown for Guzman, who has been the Huskies’ starter for the past three years. The Othello senior finished 2-of-5 for 31 yards, contributing where he can for a team on the move.

“It felt great to come in and do my job. Kyler and I have worked together for a long time now,” Guzman said. “(Not being the starter) gets to me, but I’m a team player and I want to be able to support my teammates wherever I can. Tonight it was a couple of plays at quarterback. Coach has me at middle linebacker and some special teams, which is better than being on the bench.”

It might have seemed a little heavy to throw something like that at the Jacks with a 23-point lead, but with its effectiveness, somewhere down the line opponents can expect to see it again.

The numbers went along with the score. Quincy quarterback Kade Schutzmann 14-of-31 for 71 yards was intercepted three times. Quincy rushed for just 11 yards on the night. Ruben Vargas finished with 13 yards on three carries. A couple of negative-yard efforts dragged the average down.

Othello generated 301 yards in total offense, most of which came on the ground. Trevor Hilmes finished the night with 105 yards on 13 carries and Isaac Barragan carried 21 times for 86 yards.

The Huskies scoring was steady as Seattle rain, taking a 26-0 lead at the intermission. Isaiah Perez had a strip sack on the Quincy 18-yard and the ball was kicked back into the end zone for a safety. Othello place kicker Patrick Azevedo continues to be a scoring threat. The Huskies sophomore was good on five PATs and kicked a 32-yard field goal in the second quarter.

Alejandro Gonzalez, Hilmes and Palomares had interceptions for the Huskies defense. Quincy defenders Tyson Thornton and Petersen had interceptions for the Jacks.

Quincy will travel to Wapato on Friday and Othello will host unbeaten Ephrata (4-0, 1-0).

Score by quarters

Othello 14 12 8 12 - 46

Quincy 0 0 0 0 - 0

Scoring summary

O - Efrain Palomares 97 kick return (Patrick Azevedo kick)

O - Kyler Villarreal 4 run (Azevedo kick)

O - Safety

O - Villarreal 5 pass from DJ Guzman (Azevedo kick)

O - Azevedo 32 field goal

O - Villarreal 5 run (pass)

O - Estavan Ochoa 2 run (Azevedo kick)

O - Ochoa fumble recovery