Othello shuts out Quincy in CWAC North opener

OTHELLO — As long as Roger Hoell walks this earth, the Othello Huskies (2-2, 1-0 CWAC North) will pound the rock with a power running game, and Friday night’s 43-0 win over Quincy in the Central Washington Athletic Conference North opener at Husky Field was no different.

Huskies quarterback Logan Hollenbeck only threw three times, four if you count the tight spiral he put on the ice bag toss to trainer Marysol Parrish on the sidelines. His 33-yard touchdown strike to Gage Pruneda was set up off the play-action. But it was a run-first night and the Othello staff found a way to turn 6-foot-3, 245-pound junior Isaiah Perez loose on the edge behind pulling Cameron Bain and Cris Vasquez.

Where Royal and West Valley loaded the box with seven to stop the highly recruited Perez in the A-gap, the scheme against the Jacks (1-2, 0-1 CWAC North) was to gain the edge and Quincy had no answer.

Perez finished up with 91 yards on 11 carries with two touchdowns and a two-point conversion. The speed element in the Huskies backfield, Isaac Barragan, finished with a game-high 128 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown.

“We tried to mix it up with Isaiah and me with speed and power. If we do that, they don’t know where we’re going to go on the next play,” said Barragan, who scored on a 25-yard burst in the first quarter to give the Huskies a 15-0 lead. “We’ve been passing a bit, but it seems like we’re going back to what we do, run the football.

“Gage’s touchdown was all about being able to run the football, then hit them with the pass.”

Othello scored on its first two possessions. Perez powered his way to a 3-yard push and Barragan got loose on the outside for a 25-yard scamper. Hollenbeck’s 33-yard strike to Pruneda, who was five-yards behind the defender caught looking into the backfield, made it a three-score Huskies lead with 7:17 left in the half.

Quincy had some success running the ball. Ruben Vargas finished with 33 yards on seven carries. But as the Huskies pressure crashed down on quarterback Israel Cavazos and the 5-8, 145-pound junior was picked on three consecutive drives as Othello pulled away.

Huskies cornerback Efrain Palomares got the first interception on the 41-yard line with 6:09 remaining in the first half. Linebacker BJ Garza came up with the second one right before the intermission and the Huskies pulled away with a 21-point second quarter to take a 36-0 lead into the locker room at the halftime.

“Tonight was a good example of what we can do when everybody does their job. On defense, we set up so we had an extra guy on the side we knew they were going,” said Perez, who was the CWAC defensive player of the year last season. “Defense is fun because you get to hit people and offense you’re just trying to get first downs.

“If we get our defense down, it makes us all that much better.”

The final Othello pick of the night came on the Jacks best drive. The took the opening kickoff in the second half and marched on a 70-yard drive to the Huskies, but Othello cornerback Liddel Giles made the interception in the end zone in front of Quincy receiver Trevor Moloso to squelch the Jacks best drive of the night.

Moloso led the Jacks with 10 tackles. Vargas finished with nine and Marcario Vega added seven.

Othello travels to Ephrata and Quincy hosts Wapato on Friday.

Quincy 0 0 0 0 - 0

Othello 15 21 7 0 - 43

O - Isaiah Perez 3 run (BJ Garza kick)

O - Isaac Barragan 25 run (Perez run)

O - Gage Pruneda 33 pass from Logan Hollenback

O - Perez 13 run (Garza kick)

O - Estevan Ochoa 1 run (Garza kick)

O - Hollenbeck 1 run (Garza kick)