Ontario offense controls Bulldogs
Tigers dominate time of possession against Nyssa

Sunday, September 28, 2008 12:15 AM PDT

Wil Anderson
Argus Observer

ONTARIO—The Ontario football team used a ball control offense and utilized its team speed to earn a 41-0 nonleague win over Nyssa, Friday in Ontario.

To begin the second half, the Tigers took the opening kickoff down the field, scoring on a 16-yard touchdown pass as Tad Anzaldua connected with Nico Martinez. Jordan Lang added the point after, for a 34-0 lead, with 8:54 left in the third quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Ontario special teams caught the Bulldogs off guard, kicking on onside kick, which they recovered.

Ontario marched down the field, using an 11-play drive, which included a pair of penalties, to pick up another score. Anzaldua found Jake Turner in the back of the endzone for a touchdown pass, and a 41-0 lead with 3:03 remaining in the quarter.

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“Our offense was moving the ball well,” Ontario head coach Trever Wilson said. “We were trying to run the ball and our kids played well. There was a lot of adversity this week.”

This week, the Tigers’ were without eight starting players, for various reasons, ranging from injuries to suspensions. Many of the younger players who have not seen varsity action stepped in to fill the holes, helping the Tigers to the win.

“They (the young players) really stepped up and played hard,” Wilson said. “We knew about it in advance and we were able to prepare. They worked hard in practice and it showed.”

Again, following the Tigers score, the Tigers again were set to kick it off, this time a squib kick was just missed by the kicker, bouncing off a Nyssa players, and Ontario again recovered the ball. This time, a fumble ended the Tigers’ drive on the Nyssa 20 yard line.

Nyssa’s ensuing drive, was their best of the night, moving the ball nearly 50 yards into Ontario territory, before having a pass intercepted on a fourth-and-8 play. The drive, which started in the third quarter, consumed nearly half of the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs used 13 plays on the drive, all on the ground.

“Obviously Ontario is a good team ,with good team speed and good kids. They played good football,” Nyssa coach Lee Long said. “We are not as deep (as Ontario) but the kids tried hard.”

Nyssa’s defense was able to shut out Ontario for the final stanza, but was not able to put points of their own on the board.

In the first half, Ontario started the scoring with a 43-yard punt return by Chase Fields. Following a four play drive by Nyssa, the Tigers again marched down the field for a score, as Anzaldua completed a pass to the right side, and Roger Garza took the ball and went in for a 49-yard touchdown run.

The Tigers fumbled their next possession, and scored touchdowns on their next two possessions of the second half, for a 27-0 halftime lead.

Anzaldua finished with 125 yards passing, and three touchdowns, while completing 8-of-9 passes. Turner finished wtih 97 yards rushing to lead all rushers and teammate Frank Lopez added 73 yards on the ground with a touchdown.

Turner and Riley Horn each recorded an interception for the Tigers.

Nyssa’s offense was led by Kyle Schoorl with 62 yards rushing, as the Bulldogs were limited to 96 total yards, all on the ground.

Even with the loss, Long is excited about his team and the possibilities they bring to the gridiron.

“We have great kids that work hard,” he said. “We are very confident going into next week. We have had good competition to get the boys tough.”

The Tigers (4-1 overall) enjoy on off week, before traveling to take on Lakeland, Id. October 11, for a 3:30 start time. Nyssa (1-3) begins league play Friday, when they host Umatilla, in Eastern Oregon League action.