Damaje Riley's punt return TD sparks Tulare Union to win over El Diamante

The Tulare Union High School football team needed a spark.

Enter Damaje Riley.

The freshman returned a punt 54 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter as time expired for halftime to ignite the Tribe to a 49-3 win against El Diamante on Thursday night at Visalia Community Stadium.

Tulare Union led 7-3 before Riley’s house call and had previously turned it over twice on back-to-back offensive possessions — once on downs and a lost fumble — before the freshman delivered the game-changing play.

"It was special," Riley said. "I had teammates blocking. It was just a great return. It felt great. It felt amazing. It just pumped the team up. We rise to the next level."

Riley, a 5-foot-8 and 150-pound receiver/returner, has already made an immediate impact despite being in high school in less than a month.

He scored his first career touchdown on a nine-yard catch in a 54-13 win over Mt. Whitney in Week 1.

More: Tulare County Football: Top games to watch, Week 2 predictions

The freshman was at it again versus El Diamante.

Riley racked up 181 all-purpose yards. He finished with five catches and 66 yards receiving and also added 115 yards on punt returns. He found the end zone on a seven-yard catch late in the third quarter, too.

Riley nearly had another punt return for a touchdown when he took back a boot 61 yards to the El Diamante 12-yard line. That set up sophomore receiver Brayden Stevenson's touchdown snag and gave the Tribe a commanding 35-3 lead with a minute and 10 seconds to play in the third period.

"I just came to compete and show off my talents," Riley said.

Longtime Tulare Union coach Darren Bennett praised Riley for his efforts after the Tribe's 2-0 start.

Through two games, Riley has recorded seven catches for 79 yards receiving and three total touchdowns.

Riley is part of a Tulare Union offense that is averaging nearly 52 points per game.

"He's got a chance to be a helluva player," Bennett said. "He already is. He's a really, really good player. He's got a chance to be a Division I guy, obviously. He's got the things that I would like to tell you I'm teaching. We're just trying to give him the ball."

Tulare Union led 14-3 at halftime before pulling away in the second half.

Sophomore quarterback Jordan Crisp led the Tribe with 336 yards passing and tossed four touchdowns — all in the second half. He completed 77% of his attempts, connecting on 27 of 35 passes.

Crisp threw a touchdown each to Riley, Stevenson, Franklin Lockhart and Sonny Guess. Lockhart led the team with six catches for 110 yards.

Crisp now has eight touchdown throws on the season.

What's it like to have a quarterback like Crisp?

"It feels great," Riley said. "Amazing."

Senior running back Tieler Peterson had another strong all-around performance. He finished with four catches for 81 yards and rushed for 36 yards while scoring on one- and three-yard runs.

El Diamante moved the ball effectively in the first half. The Miners entered the red zone on three straight drives to open the non-league game but came away with only three points. On their second possession, they turned the ball over on downs at the Tulare Union 10-yard line and had a pass intercepted in the end zone on the ensuing possession by Tribe linebacker Francisco Fernandez.

Senior running back Caleb Silva was the Miners' top offensive weapon, running for a game-high 82 yards on 13 carries.

More: Vote for the Tulare County high school athlete of the week, Aug. 21

The game's final 11 minutes and 33 seconds were played with a running clock. That marked the second week in a row that Tulare Union triggered a running clock in the fourth quarter.

The Tribe have now scored 49 points or more in back-to-back contests. The Tribe kicked off the 2023 season with a 41-point victory against Mt. Whitney, dropping 54 points in the win.

"We did good," Riley said. "We could do better but we're just gonna keep working, put in hard work."

Tulare Union 49, El Diamante 3

TU        7           7            21              14           -              49

El D             3             0            0              0           -              3

First quarter

El D – Edward Perez Ambriz 29 field goal, 8:09

TU – Tieler Peterson 3 run (Gabriel Perez kick), 3:39

Second quarter

TU – Damaje Riley 54 punt return (Perez kick), :00

Third quarter

TU – Peterson 1 run (kick failed), 7:44

TU – Riley 7 pass from Jordan Crisp (Brayden Stevenson pass from Crisp), 2:42

TU – Stevenson 12 pass from Crisp (Perez kick), 1:10

Fourth quarter

TU – Franklin Lockhart 11 pass from Crisp (Perez kick), 11:33

TU – Sonny Guess 5 pass from Crisp (Perez kick), 3:33

Individual statistics

RUSHING – TU: Tieler Peterson 10-36, Sonny Guess 1-4, Jordan Crisp 2-(minus) 8. El D: Caleb Silva 13-82, Edward Perez 9-28, Kaleb Smith-Konersman 3-0.

PASSING – TU: Crisp 27-35-0 366. El D: Smith-Konersman 6-14-1 68.

RECEIVING – TU: Franklin Lockhart 6-110, Peterson 4-81, Guess 5-30, Riley 5-66, Brayden Stevenson 5-63, Michael Soto 2-16. El D: Joseph Trevizo 2-15, Silva 2-12, Jeremiah West 1-34, Anthony Noriega 1-7.

Records – Tulare Union 2-0, El Diamante 0-2.

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Damaje Riley's punt return TD sparks Tulare Union to victory