WHITTIER – The new-look Sonora offense is going to take a while to jell after losing most of its talent to graduation.
In Friday night’s opener, Whittier blanked the Raiders, 16-0, in a game that saw Sonora’s offense turn the ball over five times at California High.
Whittier scored the game’s first points, when, with 54 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Alex Retana powered in on a 1-yard run on a fourth-and-goal play.
On its next possession, Sonora had a bad snap on its punt attempt. It turned into a Jorge Vazquez 27-yard field goal, and the Cardinals led 10-0.
Retana put the game away with his second 1-yard TD run with 6:03 to play.
Trent Rodriguez will see better days, as the sophomore, making his first varsity start, completed just 7 of 22 passes for 45 yards, was picked off four times and lost a fumble.
Ethan Cook ran for a team-best 73 yards on 12 carries for Sonora.
Whittier’s Dylan Salcido completed 12 of 22 passes for 91 yards, and rushed for a game-high 76 yards on 11 carries. Salcido recovered a Rodriguez fumble and brought it back for what would have been an 80-yard touchdown, but a penalty 30 yards behind the play nullified the score.
Alan Soto, Raymond Yrigoyen, Aaron McClain and Juan Santos all picked off the Sonora quarterback.
Chigozie Anusiem had four catches for 20 yards and a run for 15 yards for Sonora.
