Tigers ‘D’ getting R-E-S-P-E-C-T

By Ray Rodriguez - Argus Observer
Sunday, September 23, 2007 12:21 AM PDT

Ontario’s Jake Turner (16) looks for some daylight while being tackled by Burns’ Caleb Feist during Friday’s nonleague varsity football game in Ontario. The No. 2 ranked Tigers defeated Burns 59-14.

Ontario - All summer long, the Ontario Tiger defense has had questions to answer.

Were the players ready? Are they physical enough? Can they play tough when a game is hanging in the balance?

Check. Check. Check.

The Tigers notched seven sacks, held Burns to negative 11 yards of offense in the first half and cruised to an easy 59-14 win over the Hilanders Friday in non-league football action in Ontario.

“This year, the defense has been looking for a lot of respect,” Ontario linebacker Nick David said. “We’ll get that respect when we continue to play as a team. The first-team defense hasn’t had a touchdown scored on them all year. We’re looking to keep it that way.”

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While the defense was holding a clinic on the field, the special teams chipped in some major plays to give Ontario all the offense it would need.

Jake Turner had a 38-yard punt return for touchdown, Loren Stewart added touchdown returns of 42 and 53 yards and Josh Mejia added a 95-yard kickoff return.

The Tigers were up 31-0 at the half and kicked off to the Hilanders to start the third quarter. Ontario held Burns to a three-and-out, capped by a sack by Turner, and Burns was forced to punt.

On the punt, Stewart sprinted under the ball, used several blocks and galloped down the left sideline for the score to give the Tigers a 38-0 lead.

After Ontario’s kick off, Burns had possession on its own 8-yard line, and three plays later, Burns punter Logan Garner lofted another punt in the air.

Stewart scooped up the ball off several hops and ran toward the right sideline. The senior juked out a defender, broke a tackle and tip-toed his way past hapless defenders all the way to paydirt, giving Ontario a 45-0 lead with 8:15 left in the third.

“I got some amazing blocks,” Stewart said. “All those guys got on people and kept their blocks going. They definitely got it done.”

With 11:19 left in the fourth quarter, the Tigers capped a five-play, 65-yard drive, capped by a three-yard touchdown plunge by Marcus Marines. The big play on the drive was a 47-yard run by Jordan Lang on a third-and-two effort.

Burns finally scored with eight minutes left and were successful on a conversion pass, but on the next kickoff, Mejia rolled 95 yards for a touchdown to make the score 59-8 with 7:45 left.

Stewart added nine rushes for 116 yards, Frank Lopez added 32 yards, and Lang chipped in 47 yards on the ground. Sap went 7-of-11 for 72 yards and a pair of scores for the Tigers, which totaled 324 total yards.

Ontario scored on its first drive at the 9:57 mark of the opening stanza, capped by a 21-yard pass from Bryson Sap to wide receiver Ryan Laubacher.

Jacob Haueter added a 30-yard field goal, and Ontario led 10-0 after 12 minutes of play.

Mejia scored on a 9-yard scamper, Turner rattled off his punt return and he capped the first half scoring with a six-yard touchdown catch from Sap to give Ontario the 31-0 halftime lead.

The only scores Ontario allowed were in the fourth quarter, off the junior varsity squad with the running clock rule in effect, and the Burns bus driver had the motor revving.

“Every week they’re getting more confident,” Ontario head coach Randy Waite said. “The guys were flying around. When we have the db’s, the linebackers and the line all performing well, that makes for a good defense.”

Ontario (4-0 overall) next travels to Nyssa Friday.