Valencia Ekes Out Victory Over El Dorado

Valencia quarterback Robert Hernandez threw two touchdown passes to lead the Tigers to a 14-10 victory over El Dorado Friday night at Valencia.

Hernandez found Sonny Lopez for a 10-yard scoring pass with 8 minutes 29 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Valencia Coach Mike Marrujo said that an adjustment on offense was critical to that touchdown pass.

“We had been lining up Sonny on the outside and he was consistently double-teamed,” Marrujo said. “We moved him into the slot in order to match him up with a linebacker. Sonny got open and Robert threw a nice pass.”

The second Valencia touchdown proved critical, as El Dorado closed the gap to 14-10 with 50 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Running back Jeff Mathison caught a screen pass from Brian Zurhellen and ran 86 yards for the Golden Hawks’ only touchdown.

Valencia (2-1) scored on its first possession, driving 67 yards in seven plays. Hernandez connected with Brad Bartczak on a 15-yard touchdown pass with just over seven minutes remaining in the first quarter.

El Dorado (0-3) got to the Valencia 11-yard line before Zurhellen kicked a 33-yard field goal to close the gap to 7-3 with 3:26 remaining in the first half.

Valencia had 236 yards in total offense, led by running back Scott Parker with 89 yards rushing.

Zurhellen was nine of 22 for 134 yards, but El Dorado was limited to 37 yards rushing.