photo by Ryan Kalka
CAPTION: Senior transfer from Southwest HS, Mauricio Martinez (#10), celebrates with his teammates after securing their second win of the season, due in part to a key fumble return for a touchdown by Martinez to give the Huskies the lead, 21-14.
This past Friday, the varsity football team played the Southwest Dragons at Southwest stadium. The Huskies managed to pull the game away from the Dragons and win 21-14 thanks in part to a fumble recovery and touchdown by senior and former Southwest Dragon Mauricio Martinez in the third quarter.
The first half was slow and grueling. The Huskies offense and defense were both struggling to execute their plays. Also the humidity and an unusual amount of bugs and mosquitos plaguing the field had an impact on the huskies play in the first half, causing some distraction.
“We got sprayed with bug spray right outside of the locker room before we went to the field, and it was like war with knats while were stretching. They were covering our faces and mosquitos were biting us. It was annoying, but once kickoff happened, nobody paid attention to it,” senior captain and left tackle Jay Cruz said.
Despite a slow beginning, there were still some points scored by both teams. Senior John Duhon rushed for a five yard touchdown with an extra point by sophomore Adair Nunez to make the score 7-0 and put the Huskies up first on the board. But it was only a matter of time before the Dragons scored as well, tying up the game at halftime 7-7.
Heading into the second half the Huskies were pumped and excited, they knew the game was going to be close and they were going to have to give 110% if they wanted to pull away with the victory.
“We knew it was going to be a fight and we had to [decide] who wanted it more,” senior Thomas Torres said.
The first score of the second half came from a 27 yard run by the Dragons, putting them up 14-7 early in the third quarter. But the Huskies quickly responded with a 25 yard touchdown pass to senior Quentrevious Wright from senior Jesse Vara.
photo by Ryan Kalka
CAPTION: Junior wide receiver Quentrevious Wright catches a 25 yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jesse Vara, despite contact from a Southwest HS defender. The score tied the game at 14 early in the third quarter.
The biggest play was made by the defense late in the third quarter. It was a forced fumble by senior Demitri Martinez that was returned all the way for a touchdown by senior Mauricio Martinez to put up what would be the last score of the game and set the total at 21-14, Huskies. For Martinez, the experience of scoring against his own team was surreal.
“As I was running toward the end zone, I was asking myself, ‘did that just happen?’ It felt good to show [Southwest] what the Huskies are,” Martinez said.
photo by Ryan Kalka
CAPTION: Senior Mauricio Martinez, who played for Southwest High School last year and is a recent transfer to Holmes, returns a fumble created by senior Dmitri Martinez for a touchdown against his old team. The score gave the Huskies the 21-14 lead late in the third quarter, and they’d hold on for the win.
As time drained to close out the game, the Husky defense stepped up and made some huge plays to seal the deal. From forcing fumbles to making critical stops, the defense came up big and were rewarded with the victory against a team that made the playoffs last year.
“I was so happy my first varsity win was against a playoff team,” junior Jason Alanis said.
The Huskies look to continue this display of dominance tonight against the Harlandale Indians at Gustafson Stadium at 7pm in a homecoming matchup that is should see a big crowd of both students, faculty, and alumni. Additionally, homecoming king and queen will be announced at halftime.