Valencia Takes Advantage of Turnovers, Beats El Dorado

Valencia took advantage of second-half turnovers to defeat rival El Dorado, 21-6, in a nonleague game Friday night at Valencia High.

Trailing, 7-0, in the third quarter, El Dorado recovered a fumbled punt return and drove to the Tigers’ 27-yard line. But quarterback Mike Derisio was hit as he was about to pitch and fumbled the ball. Valencia’s Ray Cortez recovered the ball and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 4:02 left in the quarter.

Sophomore Mitchell Nord replaced Derisio at quarterback and El Dorado’s offense came to life in the fourth quarter. Taking advantage of a fumble by Alex Martinez, the Golden Hawks (0-3) scored when Nord found receiver Andy Woldridge with a 14-yard touchdown pass.

El Dorado was able to stop the Tigers on the ensuing possession and had a chance to score with less than two minutes left to play. But a fumbled pitch by Steven Warfield was recovered by Valencia’s Julian Gomez.

The Tigers wasted no time, scoring in two plays on a 40-yard touchdown run with 1:35 left in the game.

“A rivalry like this is a good warm-up for league play,” Valencia Coach Mike Marrujo said.

Marrujo is 9-3 against El Dorado as coach of the Tigers. The Tigers (3-0) lead the overall series, 13-12.