La Quinta Gets Rolling to Win, 32-0

After a scoreless and mistake-filled first half, La Quinta High School got its offense rolling in the second half for a 32-0 nonleague victory over Estancia Thursday night at Davidson Field.

The Aztecs (2-0) used the passing of senior quarterback Donald Hopkins, the running of George Sanchez and the defense of linebacker Craig Reynolds to outclass the Eagles (1-1).

Hopkins completed 10 of 16 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown and Sanchez ran for 68 yards in 10 carries, most of them in the second half. And when the pair wasn’t on the field picking apart the Estancia defense, Reynolds was making his presence felt with some impressive tackles of Estancia rushers at and behind the line of scrimmage.

On the other hand, the Eagles sorely missed starting quarterback Matt Johner, who last week threw for 342 yards against Los Amigos but who sat on the sidelines Friday nursing strained growth plates in his hip.

But the Eagles needed more than Johner on this night, especially in the second half.

La Quinta got in the end zone in its third possession of the third quarter when Hopkins ran around left end from the six-yard line with 3 minutes 29 seconds remaining.

The Aztecs padded their lead just over a minute later on a 26-yard field goal by Mike Berg and scored again early in the fourth period on a 28-yard toss from Hopkins to wide receiver Steve Quach.

Sanchez then ran the ball four consecutive times in La Quinta’s next possession, culminating his effort with a seven-yard touchdown run with 5:22 left to play.

The Aztec defense scored when defensive back Sam Barbee recovered a fumble by Estancia quarterback Richard Buday, who was slammed by Reynolds on an attempted pass, and ran it in from the 15-yard line.