Orestimba High’s football team continues its struggles against Trans Valley League opponents after dropping its fourth consecutive game after a 38-13 loss on the road against Hughson High on Friday.
The Warriors fall to 2-6 overall and remain winless in TVL play at 0-4. Orestimba is the only team in the TVL without a win in league play.
Despite dealing with a power outage that led to a more than an hour delay before kickoff, Hughson remained composed and it showed on the field.
In the game’s opening drive, Hughson’s wide receiver Lawson Aviles rushed for a total of 80 yards including a touchdown to get the Huskies on the board, 7-0.
After getting stopped near its 10-yard line, everything went from bad to worse for the Warriors. After getting its punt return kick blocked by offensive linebacker Titus Beers, defensive tackle Cole Prouty recovered the ball and went into the endzone to extend the Huskies’ lead, 14-0.
While Hughson’s offense got multiple down conversions, its defense stood out the most. From pressuring Warriors’ quarterback Giovanni Gudino to getting multiple stops on Orestimba's drives, the Huskies’ front seven made its presence known.
After driving past Orestimba’s 7-yard line, Huskies’ quarterback Hudson Baldwin threw a touchdown pass to tight end Bryce McDaniel to lead by 21 points.
While Orestimba’s offense remained stagnant for most of the opening half, it found some success later on. Gudino led the Warriors’ to Hughson’s 10-yard line with an opportunity to score.
However, that moment was short-lived. As Gudino threw a pass intended for wide receiver Sean Nunes, it was intercepted by Hughson’s defensive back Connor Orr.
Orr’s interception was the catalyst for another Hughson scoring drive. After leading a drive down to Orestimba’s 35-yard line, Hudson recorded his second touchdown pass after wide receiver Lincoln Sousa’s catch and drive to the endzone for a 28-0 lead.
The Huskies concluded the first half with a 31-0 lead following a successful 30-yard field attempt from kicker Noe Pacheco.
Having not scored a point since a Sept.19 win against Freedom High, Orestimba finally got on the board.
In the team’s opening drive of the second half, running back Michael Maier recorded a 60-yard rushing touchdown to cut the Warriors’ deficit to 24 points.
However, Hughson responded back with a rushing touchdown of its own after Eli Wilbanks ran 80 yards down the field to extend the Huskies lead back to 31 points.
Maier later ran 30 yards in the fourth quarter for the final touchdown of the evening as Hughson held onto its lead to win, 38-13.
With the two games remaining in the regular season, Orestimba will travel to Ripon Christian High School on Friday. Kickoff will begin at 7 p.m.
Navtej Hundal is freelance journalist in Stanislaus County