Daniel Jung propels Glendale High football to big win

GLENDALE — It didn’t take long at all for the Glendale High football team to put the right foot forward in its 2013 season opener.

It was the first play from scrimmage to be exact, as Nitros junior running back Daniel Jung turned the corner on a pitch to the right and saw nothing but open field in front of him.

When he finally came to a halt, he had an 86-yard touchdown run en route to a monster night in which he scored four total touchdowns, racked up 282 total yards and propelled host Glendale to a season-opening 41-3 rout of San Gabriel at Moyse Field.

“It was a great opening game, we all did our job,” said Jung, who rushed for 220 yards in 13 carries for touchdowns of 86, 37 and 45 yards and hauled in a 62-yard scoring pass. “It was a great first win.”

It was a win buoyed by a first half in which the Nitros ran roughshod to the tune of a 34-7 lead before cruising through an uneventful second stanza that ended with a running clock.

“We worked really hard in the summer, so it’s not a surprise to me,” Jung said of the lopsided nature of the win. “I don’t think it’s a surprise to the team, because hard work pays off.”

San Gabriel (0-2), running a no-huddle, shotgun spread offense, never truly challenged and, when it did, shot itself in the foot to the tune of 10 penalties for 50 yards, all on illegal procedure calls.

“I was happy with our effort,” Nitros Coach John Tuttle said. “I was pleased with our defense.”

The Glendale defense held San Gabriel to just 198 yards of total offense and tallied four sacks and got an interception from junior defensive back Corey Duran. San Gabriel also had three snaps over the quarterback or punter’s head and missed a field goal.

Glendale sputtered, as well, with two turnovers and nine penalties for 87 yards.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” Tuttle said.

Nevertheless, the Nitros had plenty of highlights to get excited about.

Holding a 7-3 lead, Glendale began its 34-point run to end the game when Jung took a pitch left and went untouched for a 37-yard romp, juking inside before breaking back along the sideline to get past the safety.

Junior running back Luis Ruiz (four carries for 72 yards) got into the scoring action when he sprinted past the San Gabriel defense off right tackle for a 57-yard touchdown and a 20-3 lead after the point-after attempt was missed.

Ruiz’ score came with 6:16 remaining in the first half, as Glendale exploded for three touchdowns inside the final seven minutes of the second quarter.

Jung took a screen pass off right tackle from senior quarterback Kevin Felix (five for nine for 82 yards) and then weaved left, breaking an ankle tackle before outrunning the defense again for a 62-yard touchdown.

Consequently, it was the only Jung touchdown in which he was touched.

“My linemen did such a great job blocking,” Jung said.

Following a botched punt, Glendale cashed in with a one-yard plunge from sophomore fullback Abraham Martinez to end the first-half scoring.

The Nitros racked up five touchdowns and 289 yards of offense in the first half on just 20 plays and despite two turnovers. In stark contrast, San Gabriel ran 42 plays for just 72 yards.

Jung finished out the game’s scoring with a fourth-quarter run up the gut untouched for 45 yards, bringing about the final score and the running clock.

“Anytime you get a win, it’s a positive thing, obviously,” Tuttle said, “but there’s a lot of things we still need to work on.”