Valencia Is Impressive Again, Defeats El Dorado

Valencia and El Dorado high schools, two teams going in opposite directions, met Friday night in their annual battle for Placentia bragging rights.

The future is bright for Valencia, which defeated El Dorado, 35-0, in front of 2,000 at Bradford Stadium. The Tigers have a 3-0 record and are quickly becoming a team to watch in the Orange County rankings.

Meanwhile, the season is quickly taking on nightmarish overtones for El Dorado. The Golden Hawks were badly beaten for the third consecutive game Friday. In three games they have yet to score a touchdown or a field goal, and have been outscored, 130-2.

Valencia got off to a running start, scoring on three of its first four possessions and adding a fourth touchdown on a 34-yard fumble return by sophomore running back/defensive back Ryan Roskelly.

With El Dorado on its 40-yard line, Roskelly scooped up an errant pitch on the dead run and raced untouched into the end zone. He also scored on runs of seven and 16 yards and John Fewell had a six-yard scoring run.

By halftime it was 28-0 and El Dorado was running for cover.

Fewell added a nine-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for the final margin. But make no mistake, it could have been worse.

Valencia had one touchdown--a one-yard run by Fewell--called back because of a penalty and later fumbled away another chance at the El Dorado two-yard line.

It was an impressive display by the Tigers nevertheless.

“We played pretty well,” said Mike Marrujo, Valencia coach. “We executed well. We wanted to make a point of getting better this week.”

The Tigers’ defense clobbered El Dorado running backs all game long and kept its passing game off balance with a heavy rush.

The numbers tell the story:

El Dorado had three first downs, minus-38 yards in offense and did not pass midfield. The Golden Hawks’ first first down came with 5 minutes 33 seconds left in the half and by then they trailed, 21-0.

“Defense has been what’s won games for us for years,” Marrujo said.

Valencia wasn’t too shabby on offense either. The Tigers had 309 yards in offense, 133 on passes from quarterback Richard Wells.

“He’s played very well, very consistent, for us,” Marrujo said of Wells, a senior who was a backup last season.

Fewell, a junior, rushed for a game-high 77 yards in 14 carries and Sergio Ortiz and Roskelly added 32 and 30 yards, respectively.

Next up for Valencia is Troy, which beat El Dorado, 46-0, last week.

Next for El Dorado is Fullerton and a hope that next week is the week the Golden Hawks can turn their season around.