Garden Grove High's defense came up with crucial interceptions to achieve a 35-14 victory over the team's rivals from Irvine, University High, last week at Garden Grove High’s stadium.
“It was a grind it out win,” said Garden Grove’s head coach Ricardo Cepeda. “We’re a grinding out team this year.”
“Our defense has been the strength of our team all year,” added Cepeda. “We’re a strong defensive team and we’re going to need that next week against Rancho.”
Garden Grove High's defense came up with crucial interceptions to achieve a 35-14 victory over the team's rivals from Irvine, University High, last week at Garden Grove High’s stadium.
“It was a grind it out win,” said Garden Grove’s head coach Ricardo Cepeda. “We’re a grinding out team this year.”
“Our defense has been the strength of our team all year,” added Cepeda. “We’re a strong defensive team and we’re going to need that next week against Rancho.”
The Argos backfield came up huge when it mattered most, which set up many scoring opportunities.
With things square at 7-7 in the second quarter, University looked keen on gaining the lead for the second time of the night after a 30-plus yard rushing gain landed them on Garden Grove’s 17-yard-line.
With University knocking, Argos’ Malik Bilal picked off a poorly-placed pass to the right by the Trojans’ quarterback Wesley Jordan.
“Our motto is to fly around on defense and make a lot of plays.” said Cepeda
The play set up Argo Jordan Antunez for his second rushing touchdown of the night, which handed Garden Grove (4-2) the lead after falling behind early in the first quarter.
A player who flew around on both offense and defense was the Argos’ Austen Christian.
Christian intercepted a pass to end the first half, and then opened the second half with a monster grab in tight coverage for his first touchdown reception, giving the Argos a 21-7 lead.
Argos’ quarterback Josh Green lobbed it from about 35 yards out into the hands of Christian.
“We just said hey, we're going to throw it up to our best player and see what he can do.” said Cepeda. “[Christian] played well. I think he scored three touchdowns and we found how to get the football to him in a lot of different ways.”
University did have its chances to even things up throughout the game despite letting the Argos extend their lead, but the Trojans squandered their opportunities by turning over the ball.
One of those opportunities was afforded to the Trojans after the Argos fumbled the ball late in the third quarter. Right after giving University the opportunity to get a touchdown back by turning the ball over, the Argos’ Bilal came up with another pick and ran it back about 40 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-7.
University went on to get its final touchdown of the night through relentless runs up the middle and a touchdown completion to cap off the drive, but the Argos were not done scoring.
The Trojans attempted to get within touching distance by delivering an onside kick but were unsuccessful in recovering the football, giving the Argos possession of the football in Trojan territory.
The Argos scored on their next drive to make the final scoreline 35-14.
“We need to improve on not turning over the football and keep getting better on offense. I think our defense did really good but our offense needs to get better next week,” said Cepeda.
The Argos face Rancho Alamitos High on October 9 in both teams' Garden Grove League opener.
The matchup will see Garden Grove face an entirely different Rancho Alamitos squad than the one the Argos beat 70-21 last season.
Rancho is led by its quarterback Nick Brown, who's regularly throwing for more than 400 yards a game. The Argos’ defense will need to maintain its consistency and come up with some big plays to hold off the Vaqueros.
