Esperanza Has Enough Offense to Beat Bloomington

No scoreboard? No problem.

Ryan Sausedo and Ryan Murray of Esperanza had no problems lighting it up.

With the scoreboard at Bloomington High School malfunctioning for most of the game Friday night, the Esperanza offense provided plenty of firepower in a 47-32 victory over Bloomington.

Sausedo, the backup quarterback filling in for injured Greg Farrell, completed 10 of 17 passes for 238 yards and four touchdowns. Murray caught seven passes for 150 yards. Running back Grant Warren chimed in with 163 yards and a touchdown in 12 carries.

Despite all the offense, the Aztec defense wound up being the key factor.

Tim Sonuyi, who had not played before Friday because of a wrist injury, scored on a 21-yard run early in the third quarter to give Esperanza a 40-16 lead.

The Bruins (3-2), no strangers to high-scoring affairs after averaging 51 points through their first four games, stormed back with the double-wing attack that has made them Southern Section champions four times in the 1990s, including Division VIII championships each of the last three years.

They pulled to within 40-32 on a six-yard run by Mark Williams with 8:26 left to play. Sausedo fumbled on a keeper four plays later at the Aztec 48-yard line.

But five plays after that, Roland Gutierrez, who also had two interceptions, forced a fumble and Rex Elder recovered for Esperanza.

That set up the clinching touchdown, a 51-yard run by Warren.

“We don’t see anything like [that offense] in our league,” Aztec Coach Gary Meek said. “They keep coming at you and we knew we would have to score a lot of points. To keep them to 32 points, I’m pretty pleased.”

The Aztecs fell behind early, 8-6, and then 16-12 early in the second quarter. Then they took command by scoring 21 consecutive points in the second quarter.

Sausedo had his second consecutive impressive game. Before he took over, the Aztecs had scored 30 points in three games. In the last two, Esperanza has scored 37 and 47.

Sausedo and Murray found the deep fade rout effective, connecting on touchdowns of 15, 42 and 28 yards in the first half that helped stake Esperanza to a 33-16 halftime lead.

“It was a lot of fun out there,” said Sausedo. “They came back but when we needed it, our offense knew we could get it.”

This was Sausedo’s second start this season. Last week, he guided the Aztecs to a 37-13 victory over Long Beach Jordan.

“I’m loving it,” Sausedo said. “It’s only week to week, but I’m loving it.