Photos by Henry Barrios
BY ADAM WAYBRIGHT
Independence visited Golden Valley Friday night with hopes of remaining undefeated in South Yosemite League play.
The Falcons’ running game and defensive front were the difference makers in their 21-6 win against the Bulldogs to push them to 2-0 in the SYL.
Indy head coach Tyler Schilhabel described the victory as, “a complete 4 quarter team win.”
“It was something we had been looking for all season long. They finally put 4 quarters together on all three phases of the game and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
On the game’s first play from scrimmage, IHS RB Justin Coley took the handoff 74 yards for a Falcons touchdown to grab an early 6-0 lead just 22 seconds into the contest.
Coley, who had 181 yards rushing on the night, walked us through the play.
“Coach told me that was going to be the first play and we were going to take it to the house and thankfully I got the right blocking so it happened.”
Golden Valley would respond with 11:21 left in the 2nd quarter when WR Isaiah Puentes sprinted through the backfield to receive the jet sweep and go 56 yards to the endzone to tie the game at 6-6.
Both teams exchanged four straight 4 and outs to go into the half.
After IHS’s first drive of the 2nd half was stopped just short of the goal line, the Falcons defensive front did their part in putting points up on the board.
On 2nd and 12 from the Bulldogs 2-yard line, Independence DE Luis Alvarez read GVHS’s reverse perfectly to stop them in their end zone for a safety.
Alvarez had 3 sacks and a fumble recovery to go along with the safety.
“I couldn’t have been able to do it without the team,” Alvarez said. “They motivated me and kept me up.”
The Independence defense refused to let the Bulldogs into enemy territory the entirety of the 2nd half.
QB Isaiah Jones and the Falcons offense took over at the beginning of the 4th quarter with an acrobatic catch from WR Emiliano Rodriguez to make the score 14-6 with 9:16 remaining in the game.
“We’re just starting to row the boat and getting everything to connect and we just hope to keep on winning,” Rodriguez said.
Independence followed up the Rodriguez touchdown with the next drive being capped off by a 1-yard goal line dive from RB Terrance Adkins.
The Falcons ended the game with 15 unanswered points to take their second league win, 21-6.
Tyler Schilhabel spoke on his team remaining undefeated in SYL play.
“It sets up well for the rest of league play. Hats off to Tehachapi and Golden Valley. They gave us all we could handle these first two games. We’ve definitely got room to improve but that momentum is something we can carry into the last three weeks of league.”
Independence will return home next Friday for Senior Night against the West High Vikings (0-2 in SYL).
Golden Valley (0-2) will head to Tehachapi (0-2) next week with both teams eyeing their first SYL win of the season.
Scoring Summary:
IHS 6 0 2 13 -21
GVHS 0 6 0 0 - 6
1st Quarter:
IHS - Justin Coley 74-yard touchdown run
2nd Quarter:
GVHS - Isaiah Puentes 56-yard touchdown run
3rd Quarter:
IHS - Luis Alvarez forces safety
4th Quarter:
IHS - Isaiah Jones to Emiliano Rodriguez for 11-yard touchdown
IHS - Terrance Adkins 1-yard touchdown run (PAT good)
