A 30 minute lighting delay at Conquest Stadium on the Del Valle Campus was the only thing that seemed to slow the Conquistadors down as they dominated the Pebble Hills Spartans in the trenches on both sides of the ball to improve to 2-0 and defeat the Spartans by a final of 45 to 31.
The game began with the Spartans receiving the opening kick off, the Conquistadors forcing a 3-and-out where on the punt Pebble Hills would botch the snap into the end-zone leading to a Del Valle Safety. Del Valle would take the short kickoff following the safety and drive the ball to the red-zone where Pebble Hills would stop there momentum and force Del Valle to settle for a 30 Yard Field Goal making the score 5-0 early in the first quarter.
Del Valle would continue their dominating defensive performance holding the Spartans on the next series and after fielding a punt on their own 23 yard line, the Conquistadors would only need 1 play on their next offensive possession a 77-Yard Touchdown run by Running Back Kristian Martinez that would give Del Valle a 11-0 lead after a failed two-point conversion attempt.
At the beginning of 2nd Quarter Pebble Hills would have their best offensive series of the first half driving down to the Del Valle 18 and being stopped and forced to settle for a 32 Yard Mauricio Dominguez field goal making the score 11-3. That was as close as the score would get the rest of the night as Del Valle QB Jesse Ramos would hit Wide Receiver Brandon Telles on a 60 Yard TD Pass to make the score 18-3.
Del Valle’s Defense would tighten up and allow the Conquistadors to gain possession of the ball before the half and score on a 35 yard TD Pass from Ramos to Wide Receiver Eli Molina to take a 25-3 lead into half-time and receive the 2nd half kickoff and start the 3rd quarter off with an impressive 6:11 drive punctuated by a 1 yard Jesse Ramos QB sneak to give Del Valle a 32 to 3 lead.
Del Valle’s strangle-hold on the game was never in doubt, however the Conquistadors would have a few plays that would give the Spartans some life the first coming on a Punt that was blocked by the Spartans giving them a short field where Jacob Ledesma IV would score the Spartans first Touchdown of the night on a 3 yard keeper making the score 32-10.
The Pebble Hills Spartans would add a pair QB Gail Ochoa Touchdowns and 20 yard touchdown fumble recovery by Defensive Lineman Manny Chavez to push their point total to 31 but the game was never in doubt as Del Valle would answer each of those Touchdowns with scores of their own making the Final Score 45 to 31.
A bright spot on the Pebble Hills defense was the stout tackling of Linebacker Robert Deal who had several tackes during the game that prevented Del Valle’s Kristian Martinez from having an even bigger night on the ground.
Up next for Pebble Hills will be a home game against their Far-East Side rivals, the highly improved El Dorado Aztecs. Del Valle looks to go 3-0 against the teams from 1-6A as they have a home game against the Americas Trailblazers.
Chris Gomez Reporting