PLACENTIA – With the scoreboard displaying a final score that could easily be depicted as a blowout, El Dorado coach Mike Crawford described Thursday night’s opener against Ayala of Chino Hills as a learning experience for his young squad.
With fresh faces all around the field, El Dorado struggled to gain momentum on either side of the ball, falling to the Bulldogs, 37-7, in a nonleague game at Valencia High.
“It’s unfortunate because we were only down 9-0 at the half,” Crawford said. “Then we come out in the second half and get outscored 28 to 7. …
“Of course I’m disappointed, but I’m proud of my kids and I know we can watch this game and clean things up.”
The Golden Hawks (0-1) struggled offensively in the opening half, running 20 plays for a total of 21 yards and one first down. A strong showing by linebacker Ethan Bernstein and the defense, however, kept El Dorado within striking distance.
An Ayala (1-1) touchdown to start the second half extended the Bulldogs’ lead to 16-0 with 7:22 remaining in the third quarter.
El Dorado’s lone touchdown came less than a minute later when Jordan Wells caught a screen pass from quarterback Dominick Martinez and outraced the defense 73 yards.
Half of El Dorado’s total yards came on Wells touchdown scamper. The Golden Hawks finished with 144 yards on the night, while the Bulldogs tallied 446.
Ayala scored 21 unanswered points after El Dorado cut the lead to nine points.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
