ANAHEIM – Elusive Jahquon Speed scored four touchdowns in his opening eight carries to lead Valencia to a 51-7 rout over Western an Empire League game Thursday at Western High.
The 5-foot-9, 190-pound senior, who was slowed by injuries early in the season, had scoring runs of 70, 3, 45 and 26 yards less than 16 minutes into the game.
Speed rushed for 186 yards on nine carries, all in the first half.
The Tigers’ Michael Carrasco added 114 yards on seven carries including a 43-yard touchdown run, which ended with Valencia leading 45-0.
Valencia played its second-team offense for the entire second half, which was played with a running clock.
It was the second win for Valencia (2-6, 2-1) under first-year coach Shawn Racobs.
“Jahquon Speed played great, ran hard and he also plays cornerback on defense,” Racobs said. “Michael Carrasco plays fullback and running back for us and he’s a tough, hard runner. It was a good victory for us.We had to get back to fundamentals (blocking and tackling) after what happened last week (a 24-14 loss to Kennedy) and our line blocked well.”
Valencia also had two interceptions returned for touchdowns, a 43-yarder by defensive end Nathan Perez and a 42-yarder by Joshua Carrera.
“It’s always nice to score on defense,” Racobs said.
Sophomore Nathan Sandoval had a 13-yard touchdown run for the Tigers in the fourth period.
Eugenio Lopez caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Munoz for Western (2-5-1, 0-3) in the fourth period.
Jordan Hawkins carried the ball for 50 yards on 21 carries and caught four passes for 35 yards for the Pioneers.
Valencia has won two of its last three.
“We’re getting better,” Racobs said.
