Bell-Jeff football falls to Hillcrest Christian in league showdown
Before the start of the season, Bellarmine-Jefferson High football coach Fred Martinez said he thought Hillcrest Christian would be the top team in the Omega League.
So after the Guards, in their first season within the league won their league opener, the following game hosting the Saints had league title implications.
Those implications and that atmosphere played a factor for the Guards.
“The moment got to us,” Martinez said at halftime.
After a strong opening quarter by Bell-Jeff, the hosts fell off and the Saints ran away with the game to the tune of a 53-24 victory Saturday afternoon at Flintridge Prep in Omega League play.
“Adversity got us, but that’s OK because we learned from it,” Martinez said.
Bell-Jeff (1-5, 1-1 in league) simply could not stop Saints running back Bryan Salgado, whose size and physical running style brutalized the hosts.
The junior, who did not play the second half, rushed for 182 yards on 14 carries while scoring four touchdowns and a two-point conversion.
“He is a beast,” Martinez said. “He is by far the best athlete we’ve seen all year. We knew that coming in. He should be the MVP of the league. He showed his stuff.”
Hillcrest Christian (2-4, 1-0 in league) scored touchdowns on its first four drives of the contest on Salgado runs. The first covered 19 yards, the second 45 yards, the third 34 yards and the last eight yards.
The Guards hung with Hillcrest Christian through the first quarter, which ended with the score knotted at 16.
After the visitors got on the board, Bell-Jeff answered with a one-yard run on a direct snap to Ronald Jurok, tying the score at 8.
After the Saints scored again, Bell-Jeff answered again. A Jurok pass to Adrian Machuca in the end zone followed by a successful two-point conversion evened the score.
After that, Hillcrest scored the next 37 points.
The score at halftime was 46-16, resulting in a running clock for the second half.
“We were right there in the first half. We got to about the midpoint and I could see the kids getting confused a little bit where they were starting to press too much rather than relax and play,” Martinez said.
Machuca, a recent transfer in his first game after becoming eligible, was a standout for Bell-Jeff. He lined up mainly at quarterback, but also at receiver and running back. Machuca finished with 14 carries for 87 yards. He also went three of 13 through the air for 43 yards and caught the one pass for nine yards and the score.
Bell-Jeff was able to break through in the fourth quarter, scoring the final points of the contest.
Guard David Guerrero recovered a Saints fumble to give his team a short field. Two plays later, Jurok went in for a nine-yard touchdown run. Jurok finished with 27 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The senior also led all receivers with two catches for 22 yards.
“We went from being tied then [suddenly] down by 14, and in a championship game you can’t do that. It is a very good team that we played,” Martinez said.
Bell-Jeff has a bye next week before coming back for another Omega League matchup, this time against Lighthouse Christian.
“It is a perfect bye stretch for getting our knicks and knacks together. Let’s get ready for one big game,” Martinez said.
LA CAÑADA —