HOLD ON: Luther Tolbert (24) of Pacifica is brought down by Christian Tekurio (85)of Kennedy in the second quarter. ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER |
Ortiz plays big role in Pacifica's victory
GARDEN GROVE - Tyler Ortiz’s reputation as a playmaker grew Thursday.
Ortiz scored touchdowns on a run, a pass reception and an interception to lead Pacifica to a 27-14 victory over Kennedy in an Empire League game at Bolsa Grande High.
“He’s been doing that for us for three years,” Pacifica coach Guy Gardner said. “He’s quite the competitor.”
Ortiz, who went into the game with 646 receiving yards on 37 receptions, first scored in the second quarter on an 18-yard pass from quarterback Raymond Huizar, then on a 4-yard run in the second quarter, and finally on a 36-yard interception return in the third quarter.
Seth Trader added field goals of 19 and 30 yards for the Mariners.
Pacifica (6-2 overall) and Kennedy (5-3) are tied for second place, with 2-1 league records, and are one-half game behind Valencia, which plays Katella tonight. Kennedy plays Valencia next week and Pacifica plays Loara next week, the final week of the regular season.
Kennedy and Pacifica tied for the Empire League championship last season. Kennedy went on to win the CIF-Southern Section Southern Division championship.
Thursday’s game was the first for both teams in two weeks. All Week 8 Empire League games were canceled because of last week’s fires and health concerns created by the resulting poor air quality.
“There was definitely some concern about how we would do,” Ortiz said about the long break. “But we came back and we came back strong.”
Pacifica had the ball for almost all of the first quarter but could not score.
The Mariners took the opening kickoff and after three plays had to punt, but Kennedy fumbled away the punt return at Pacifica’s 41.
From there Pacifica drove to the Kennedy 9, helped by a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty against Kennedy. The Mariners attemped a 24-yard field goal, but the kick was blocked by Kennedy’s Christian Tekurio.
After Kennedy went three-and-out, Pacifica took possession early in the second quarter. A 30-yard run by Josh Brannon helped the Mariners reach the Kennedy 18. From there, Huizar passed to a wide-open Ortiz for an 18-yard touchdown play to give Pacifica a 7-0 lead.
The Mariners made it 14-0 on Ortiz’s 4-yard scoring run. That finished an 11-play, 68-yard drive that included a fine running throw from Huizar to Ortiz for a 21-yard gain and a first down on a third-and-3 situation.
Trader’s 19-yard field goal made it 17-0 with 1:02 to go in the third quarter, and Ortiz’s interception return seconds late increased the Pacifica lead to 24-0.
Kennedy scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, first on a 16-yard pass from Zach Emde to Tony Nunez and then on a 5-yard pass from Emde to Steven Salzar. In between, Trader kicked a 30-yard field goal.
Like Ortiz, Gardner wondered how much energy the Mariners would half coming off the two-week layoff.
“Sometimes you can’t tell,” he said. “But our guys were excited and ready to go from the start.”
Pacifica’s offensive line of Cody Lockwood, Jason Middenway, Trevor Nelson, Jarom Olson and Ross Pitsenberger and tight end Nick Mahlerdid a fine job giving Huizar time to throw and opening holes for running back Josh Brannon, who rushed for 94 yards on 20 carries. Brannon is 50 yards away from a 1,000 yard rushing season.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
| way to go Mariners that was almost as exciting as the Mariners softball beating Kennedy in the CIF finals Keep it up guys and take this all the way |
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| linda - Nov 02, 2007 08:06:27 AM | Remove Comment |
