High Desert Sports Highlights: Sultana loses to La Quinta after a scoreless second half
The Sultana football team got off to a fast start Friday night, scoring 13 points in the first quarter.
But those would be the only points the Sultans would put on the board, and a costly fumble in the final minute ultimately cost them the game.
Sultana drove into the red zone and into a first-and-goal situation. Quarterback Jacob Higgs tried to punch the ball in but the La Quinta defense tightened and stopped Sultana at the 2-yard-line with 53 seconds left to play.
The Sultans didn’t have enough timeouts, and La Quinta pulled off a 15-13 victory at Jay Reed Field.
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“It’s all on me, it was bad coaching, bad play calls, I tried to get too fancy and it didn’t work,” Sultana head coach Terry Cleveland said. “We didn’t have a good week of practice and that’s on me. I let the team down. Honestly, I looked like a rookie coach out there. I gotta just get back to letting my coordinator coach and let them do their thing.”
The Sultans came out swinging. Higgs scored on the opening drive for a quick 7-0 lead. The dynamic quarterback rolled to his right, hit a seam and ran the ball up 44 yards for the touchdown.
With about three minutes left in the first quarter, Higgs and the Sultans struck again. This time a touchdown pass to Cameron Ortega, for a 13-0 lead.
But that was the only bit of offense for the Sultans.
“Our defense played our tails off,” La Quinta head coach Juan Ruiz told the Palm Springs Desert Sun. “Sultana is a really talented football team, and our defense was able to shut down their quarterback, who is a stud.”
La Quinta quickly responded with a 47-yard rushing touchdown from Sebastian Osorio to cut the lead to five points.
Osorio scored another rushing touchdown from three yards in the closing minutes of the half to take the 15-13 lead.
“The way it started out, I thought it was going to be a track meet," Ruiz said. “But we played well against a good team.”
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The Sultans are now 2-2 on the season and are back home next week against St. Francis, which beat St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy.
“We know they are a powerhouse and we have to get back to the drawing board and back to the basics of stopping the run, which is something we haven’t done in these four games,” Cleveland said.
Hesperia 47, Alta Loma 0
At Alta Loma, for the first time since 2013, the Scorpions are 4-0 to start the season following a big win on the road.
Quarterback Anthony Lopez threw three touchdown passes in the victory. He connected with Don Henry on two of those, and he also threw one to Blake Charters.
Da’Lon Williams continued his torrid start, running for two touchdown runs. The sophomore is up to seven rushing touchdowns through four games.
Aden Nolen also scored a rushing touchdown.
Defensively, it’s the third straight shutout for the Scorpions. The defense forced four fumbles and also intercepted a pass.
“This feels great,” Hesperia head coach Casey Goodnough said. “The kids are playing hard and having fun.”
Hesperia has a short week of practice and heads to Silverado on Thursday night.
Barstow 56, Chaffey 6
At Barstow, Demetri Curiel continued his hot streak for the Aztecs, running for four touchdowns in a big victory at Langworthy Field on Friday night.
Curiel’s four touchdown efforts put him at 11 through four games on the season.
Quarterback Dwayne Wiliams threw two touchdown passes and also ran one in. Williams’ touchdown passes went to Elijah Diggs and Johntae Drisdom.
Diggs also scored a touchdown on special teams, returning a kickoff to the house.
Samuelu Tofaeono continued to lead the strong defensive effort for Barstow, ending the night with six tackles for a loss and recovering a fumble. The Aztecs have allowed just six points over the last three games in large part to Tofaeono’s play on defense.
The Aztecs (3-1) head up Highways 58 and 395 to take on Ridgecrest next week.
Silver Valley 68, Desert Christian Academy 6
At Bermuda Dunes, the Trojans racked up 68 points for the second consecutive week.
Silver Valley got two touchdown performances from Stephen Crawford, Camari Hunt and Bryan Mitchell in the victory.
The Trojans (2-1) look to extend the winning streak to three games next week against Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac Catholic School in the Manzanita League opener.
Hesperia Christian 45, Desert Christian 0
At Lancaster, the Patriots improved to 2-0 on the season with a victory on the road Friday night.
Nathaniel Renner completed four passes for 84 yards and three touchdowns. Two of his touchdowns went to Caleb Audet, who ended with 18 receiving yards. On defense, Audent intercepted two passes and also recovered a fumble for a touchdown.
Dylan Alfonzo took five carries for 47 yards and a touchdown; Roderick Taylor led the defense with nine tackles, including five for a loss, and two sacks; and Ayden Ortega took three carries for 28 yards, and also intercepted two passes.
The Patriots return home next week to take on Vista Meridian in a Saturday night game.
Prep Cross Country
Big Bear dominates in CVL opener
At Big Bear, the Bears swept in boys and girls action in the Cross Valley League opener on Sept. 5 at Pineknot Campground.
Both the boys and girls teams had three of the top five finishers.
Locally, Mia Villa, of Cobalt Institute of Math and Science, finished third in the girls race with a time of 22:37, while Brooke Lorz, of Academy for Academic Excellence, finished right behind in fourth place at 22:46.7.
In boys action, AAE’s Elijah Lovett finished second overall with a mark of 16:39.5, just 21 seconds behind Big Bear’s Kael Jex. Lovett, a senior, was the High Desert’s lone qualifier for the CIF State Cross Country Championships last year.
Silver Valley’s Arik Pulshipher, a freshman, finished fifth overall with a time of 18:28.2.
Cross Valley League Meet No. 1
Boys
Team Scores
1. Big Bear (30); 2. AAE (58); 3. University Prep (96); 4. ACE (138); 5. CIMS (139); 6. Excelsior (141); 7. Silver Valley (154); 8. Riverside Prep (202).
Top Finishers
1. Jex (BB), 16:18.4; 2. Lovett (AAE), 16:39.5; 3. Chavarria (BB), 17:24.2; 4. Restuccia (BB), 17:57.3; 5. Pulsipher (SV), 18:28.2; 6. Brandt (CIMS), 18:34.8; 7. Moore (AAE), 18:50.4; 8. Tworek (AAE), 18:50.7; 9. Ortega (BB), 19:10.2; 10. Lara (RP), 19:21.7.
Girls
Team Scores
1. Big Bear (21); 2. University Prep (74); 3. CIMS (80); 4. Riverside Prep (104); 5. AAE (105); 6. Excelsior (139).
Top Finishers
1. Celis-Saldivar (BB), 21:00.8; 2. Chicca (BB), 22:07.2; 3. Villa (CIMS), 22:37; 4. Lorz (AAE), 22:46.7; 5. Coughey (BB), 22:56.9; 6. Page (HCS), 23:31.3; 7. Sweeney (BB), 23:36.6; 8. Tello (BB), 23:58.8; 9. Rivera (UP), 24:29.1; 10. Amaya (E), 24:33.4.
Prep Girls Tennis
Oak Hills 15, San Bernardino 3
At Oak Hills, the Bulldogs celebrated their home opener with a victory as two singles players and two doubles teams swept on Sept. 7.
The doubles team of Hayley Lazo and Valerie Torres swept with two bagels (6-1, 6-0, 6-0), and Mylie Banuelos and Natalie Nicasio swept with scores of 6-2, 6-3, 6-0. In singles action, Jaselyn Montalvo swept with scores of 6-1, 6-1, 6-1, and Hailey Serna swept with two bagels (6-1, 6-0, 6-0).
Earlier in the week, Montalvo also swept in singles action as the Bulldogs lost 11-7 to Yucaipa. Lazo and Banuelos teamed against Yucaipa and won two of three matches.
The Bulldogs begin Mojave River League action on Tuesday on the road against Apple Valley.
Silverado 14, AAE 4
At Victorville, the Hawks improved to 2-0 in Desert Sky League action with a victory over the Knights on Sept. 6.
Silverado got sweeps in doubles action from the teams of Emalie Barajas and Ellie Valdez (6-2, 6-1, 6-2), along with Ashley Garcia and Aileen Brescenio (6-3, 6-3, 6-3).
The Hawks (4-3) are back in action Tuesday at home against Adelanto.
Silverado Singles
Ibarra 6-7(11), 6-2, 6-0; Cruz 2-6, 6-3, 7-5; Siaquat 1-6, 6-1, 6-1.
Silverado Doubles
Barajas-Valdez 6-2, 6-1, 6-2; McGowan-Loeun 4-6, 6-1, 6-1; Garcia-Brescenio 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Prep Girls Volleyball
Barstow 3, Granite Hills 1
At Apple Valley, the Aztecs improved to 3-0 in Desert Sky League action with a victory in four sets (25-18, 15-25, 25-14, 25-12) over the Cougars on Sept. 7.
Aliitasi Lealofi paced the offense for Barstow by spiking 22 kills, serving eight aces to go along with 10 blocks; Angie Lealofi added seven kills, four aces and five blocks; Emersyn Ebel dished 26 assists with three kills, seven aces and three digs; and Mariah Rodriguez ended with four kills and two blocks.
Oak Hills 3, Sultana 0
At Hesperia, Keonahi'ilani Solaita racked up 21 kills to lead the Bulldogs to a sweep (27-25, 25-21, 25-15) over the Sultans on Sept. 6
Solaita, who was recently named the Daily Press Athlete of the Week, recorded a double-double, adding 10 digs, a block and an ace.
Christianna Roberts added five kills, and three blocks; Gianna Sena had four kills, four aces and nine digs; and Teila Hill dished 25 assists with four digs and two aces.
Oak Hills (8-2, 2-0 Mojave River League) is back in action Monday on the road against Burroughs.
Didn't see your team's scores in this roundup? All local varsity scores and results can be reported by email to Daily Press reporter Jose Quintero at JQuintero@VVDailyPress.com. You can also follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @J0seQuintero to report any results throughout the season.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: High Desert Sports Highlights: Sultana loses to La Quinta
