Photo by Bobby R. Hester
Photo by Bobby R. Hester

No. 3 Riverside Boat Races No. 9 El Camino

Two quarterbacks threw at least one touchdown pass, four different wide receivers were on the tail end of the touchdown passes and two defensive backs rose up for an interception. It is safe to say that the No. 3 Tigers came ready to play on Saturday night against the No. 9 El Camino College Warriors in a game that saw Riverside put up 55 points to the Warrior's 17.

Despite being flagged 19 times for 140 yards, Riverside was fairly disciplined in their schemes on both sides of the pigskin. Defensively, Riverside held El Camino to a mere three points and 124 yards of total offense. Furthermore, they were dominant on third down with the Warrior's third down efficiency rating reaching a lowly 12 percent.

Defense is what sparked the offense for the Tigers early on as freshman corner Kylen Ross picked off El Camino's quarterback and nearly made an early game house call. He was brought down at the two-yard line. Freshman quarterback Mike Irwin shortly punched the pigskin passed the goal line for the first score of the contest.

Riverside kept the ball rolling on the offensive end as Irwin located freshman wide receiver Giovanni Sanders on a 25-yard touchdown connection to bring the score to 14-0.

Both squads traded field goals late in the first and midway through the second as freshman kicker Zach Survillas booted a 33 yarder through the uprights to bring the score to 17-3. Despite the cushy lead, El Camino brought the contest to within a score after returning a 34-yard interception to the house.

Nevertheless, a quarterback adjustment sparked the Tiger' offense as freshman Jacob Barlage came in and found freshman wide out Dylan Laurent streaking in the back of the end zone for a six-yard snipe. Survillas closed the first half with a 27-yard field goal to hand Riverside a 27-10 advantage entering into the locker room.

It was all Riverside in the second half as the Tigers outscored the Warriors 28-7. It was the Tyler Kennedy show as he picked up right where he left off last year. The sophomore speedster broke off a 99-yard kickoff return to the crib, backed by linking up with Irwin for a 33-yard touchdown reception two possessions later.

Irwin capped his night by tossing two more touchdown passes to Jarrell Anderson and Sanders, respectively, leading to a 55-17 victory.

Kennedy stole the show with a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. He added a receiving touchdown accompanied by four catches for 64 yards. Irwin, who started the game, finished well by tossing four touchdown passes leading to 233 yards and an interception. Barlage was efficient by throwing for an even Benjamin and a touchdown.

Survillas was money in the kicking game by knocking in two field goals and going a flawless 7-for-7 in point after attempts.

Defensively, freshman defensive lineman James Hansen paced Riverside with nine tackles, while sophomore linebacker Kobey Fitzgerald recorded four tackles. Freshman defensive back Shawn Dourseau and Ross recorded an interception each.

Riverside (1-0) will face off against to No. 18 Fullerton (1-0) on Saturday, September 14 at 1 p.m. at Yorba Linda High School.