Welch’s big night propels Golden Valley past El Capitan in CCC opener
Isaiah Welch turned in another stellar performance, rushing for four touchdowns, including a 90-yard dash late in the fourth quarter as the Golden Valley High football team defeated El Capitan 33-21 on Friday night in the Central California Conference opener for both teams at El Capitan High.
Welch broke up a scoreless tie midway through the second quarter with a short touchdown run. He added a 4-yard touchdown run just before the half to extend the Cougars’ lead to 21-7. He broke free for a 20-yard scoring run in the third quarter and then sprinted down the Golden Valley sideline for a 90-yard score with just over three minutes left in the game.
The Cougars improved their record to 3-3 overall on the season. El Capitan dropped to 1-5. The Gauchos had some big plays on the night, including Evan Jenkins’ 95-yard kickoff return that tied the game at 7-7 with 6:06 left in the second quarter.
El Capitan quarterback Jesse Morgan connected with receiver Austin Gooding for two scoring strikes of 32 and 2 yards. Golden Valley’s other touchdown came on a 38-yard pass from Gabe Richards to Damien Soriano that gave the Cougars a 14-7 lead with 3:21 left in the second quarter.
Welch finished with 20 carries for 191 yards on the ground. Richards completed 11 of 18 passes for 174 yards and rushed 14 times for 104 yards.
The Cougars will host Merced in the Battle for the Mayor’s Cup next week at Veterans Stadium. The Gauchos will travel to Los Banos.
Atwater 14, Los Banos 13 – Joseph Munoz scored a touchdown to give the Falcons a 14-7 lead and James Horrocks later blocked the Los Banos extra point midway through the fourth quarter as the Falcons opened up CCC play with a victory over the Tigers.
The Falcons were able to run the ball and run out the clock after Horrocks’ big blocked extra point. “We’ve been in every game, at least four of our five games,” said Awater coach Seneca Ybarra. “Our kids have been there before, and the kids kind of leaned on each other a little bit, and figured out how to pull out the win.”
Hudson Pimentel scored the Falcons other rushing touchdown on a counter play, breaking three or four tackles on his way into the end zone. The Falcons will host Buhach Colony in the Bloss Bowl next week.
Merced 61, Buhach Colony 0 – Brody Dabney, Dougie Andrews and Christian Jackson started the Bears onslaught with the first three touchdowns as Merced jumped out to a 34-point lead in the first quarter. David Moreno scored two Merced touchdowns and Dom Durran added a rushing touchdown as the Bears recorded their second consecutive shutout to improve to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the CCC.
Lathrop 43, Livingston 10 – The Spartans jumped out to a 21-3 lead at the half and coasted to a victory to improve to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the Western Athletic Conference. Roman Gonzalez scored the Wolves’ lone touchdown on a quarterback sneak and Santi Prado added a 25-yard field goal. Jeffrey Meneses finished with 100 all-purpose yards for Livingston.
Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.