On an overcast Friday night in the Mission Valley the Del Valle Conquistadors improved to 6-1 overall 2-0 in District 1-5a with their hard-fought 20- 14 victory over the Parkland Matadors. Del Valle Quarterback Jesse Ramos ran for all 3 of Conquistadors Touchdowns on route to the victory.
Del Valle would take the opening kickoff and go 88 yards in 9 plays when Ramos would score on a 2 yard sneak to give Del Valle a 7-0 lead.
Both teams would play good defense in the first half with Parklands defense putting pressure on the Del Valle Backfield the remainder of the first half. Del Valle did a good job keeping Parkland standout running back Isaiah Beasley in check and forcing a missed field goal and a turnover on downs to keep the Matadors off the scoreboard until the final :32 of the half when Parkland Quarterback Miguel Echeverria would find Texas Tech Wide-Receiver commit DJ Crest on a 23 yard Touchdown pass to even the score at 7-7.
Parkland’s offense would come out firing in the second half easily marching down the field in 2:37 to take the lead on an Isaiah Beasley 2 yard touchdown run making the score 14-7.
The Conquistadors would answer the score driving the ball down to the Parkland 2 yard line where Quarterback Jesse Ramos would score on the zone read from 2 yards out to tie the game up. After the equalizer the Del Valle defense would tighten up putting pressure on Echeverria and keeping the Matadors off the scoreboard the remainder of the game.
Del Valle would drive the ball to the Parkland 3 yard line where Jesse Ramos would score the go-ahead score on a 3 yard run to put the Conquistadors up 20-14 after missing an extra-point following back to back false starts on the Point-after try.
Parkland was unable to make Del Valle pay for the special teams blunder as they could not move the ball surrendering possession back to the Conquistadors with 2:02 to play.
Del Valle was took the clock down to :07 on 3rd down calling timeout to avoid the penalty at the Matador 20 yard line. Del Valle Quarter back rolled out and through a deep pass to the the end-zone that hit the ground as the buzzer sounded. The officials conferenced and put :01 back on clock giving Parkland the ball back with time for one final play. The Matadors seem to try to set up a hook and ladder but the pass fell short of the first receiver and Del Valle hung on for win.
Del Valle moves in to a tie for first in 1-5a with Bel Air who won big over Ysleta. Del Valle will look to go 3-0 in 1-5a when the take on Hanks. Up next for Parkland will be a road-trip to 1st place Bel Air.
Final Score: Del Valle 20 Parkland 14
Story by Chris Gomez