[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Cents rally past Buena in tough road contest
VENTURA — Even with its up-tempo, quick-strike offense, the Saugus High football team was reminded Friday of the importance of starting fast, especially on the road.
Fortunately for the Centurions, they found their offensive rhythm in time and then relied on a strong second-half defensive effort to hold off host Buena High, 17-13.
Despite allowing 13 points in the first 14 minutes, Saugus (3-0) regrouped and responded with 17 points during a seven-minute stretch of the second and third quarters to open with three consecutive victories for the first time since 2007.
“For a lot of these guys, it was their first road game in a hostile environment playing against a well-coached team and they learned that they can’t come out and play flat,” said Saugus coach Jason Bornn, whose team defeated Buena for the third time in their past four meetings.
“We have to play a complete game and that involves them coming out and playing full throttle from the start.”
Saugus’ first three possessions resulted in two punts and a lost fumble. Buena (1-2) took full advantage of its favorable field position to produce a pair of scoring drives, both capped by Brian Yanez touchdown passes.
Yanez connected with Isaiah McDougald on a 21-yard scoring pass midway through the first quarter and then hooked up with Grayson Rocha for a 12-yard touchdown with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
After forcing Buena to punt late in the second quarter, Saugus quarterback Nathan Eldridge orchestrated an eight-play, 75-yard drive in 93 seconds, culminated by a 28-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Gilmartin.
“That was the turning point in the game right there,” Gilmartin said. “We finally started moving the ball, and Nathan did a great job of spreading it around, and that gave us a lot of confidence going into the half. We had a little hiccup in the beginning with our execution, but in the second half we played much better and our defense stepped up and made some huge stops.”
Saugus struck again three minutes into the third quarter on a 39-yard touchdown pass from Eldridge to Gary Bojorquez to take a 14-13 lead. Logan Miler added a 21-yard field goal with 5:15 left in the third to give the Centurions a four-point advantage.
“Scoring before the half meant everything to us. It gave us a lot of adrenaline and it boosted our confidence and showed us that we were still in the game,” said Eldridge, who passed for 144 yards and ran for another 60.
“We came out in the second half and played a lot better. It wasn’t one single player doing anything amazing, this was a total team win and it took every one of us to get it done. Our defense made some huge plays, and our line did a great job of blocking, and that’s why we were successful.”
The Centurions had a chance to add to their lead, but were stopped on a fourth-and-1 play at the Buena 5-yard line with five minutes remaining.
Yanez nearly extended Buena’s final drive with an impressive scramble on fourth-and-26 from his own 22-yard line, but came up an inch short of the first down following a measurement, and Saugus ran out the clock.
“We were going down there to punch it in, but it didn’t work out for us. We have a lot of confidence in our defense, and they came through when we needed them,” Bornn said. “… A couple of plays here and there and they could have won this game, but this was a great character-building game for us.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
