EMPIRE LEAGUE FOOTBALL : Defense Has a Field Day as Esperanza Blanks Loara
Esperanza’s defense keyed two second-half touchdowns and shut out Loara, 17-0,in an Empire League game Thursday night at Valencia.
“Our defense really kept us in the game,” Loara Coach John deFries said. “They really rose up and played hard. They could have rolled over, but they didn’t.”
The Aztecs drove 71 yards in nine plays in the second half. Jason Florence capped the drive with a 23-yard field goal with 7 minutes 14 seconds left in the third quarter.
Esperanza (7-3, 4-1) held the Saxons on the ensuing drive, and set up the Aztecs’ first touchdown when Anton Hector blocked a punt, giving Esperanza the ball on the Saxons’ 12-yard line.
Three plays later, quarterback Chris Stretch completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Frank Abatangelo to put the Aztecs up 10-0 late in the third quarter.
The Aztecs’ defense struck again on the next drive. The Saxons (2-6-2, 0-4-1) mounted their first long drive of the game, driving to the Esperanza 22-yard line.
Linebacker Jim Stewart ended the drive, intercepting a lateral to Loara running back Denis Dawson, and running 75 yards for the Aztecs’ final score.
“We wanted to go out and have a good game,” deFries said. “We played tough and we didn’t give up. We had a couple of close battles.”
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