SAN BERNARDINO — Blazing heat and the end of summer can only mean one thing: high school football is back.
Quarterback Isaiah Arriaza led Damien to a 20-15 victory over Aquinas Friday night at Aquinas High School in the season opener for both teams.
Arriaza completed 20 of 31 passes with three touchdowns and one interception.
“I don’t know that I’d really feel that we stumped them,” Damien coach James Stewart said. “I think they just kind of ran out of time. Offensively, I thought we were driving the ball very well and then we just didn’t finish some drives. Otherwise I think the score would’ve been a little bit different.”
Aquinas quarterback Charlie Reyes completed 6 of 12 passes, with two interceptions and ran for 129 yards.
Aquinas was first into the end zone, but a touchdown was called back due to offsetting penalties by both teams.
After an Aquinas first down, Reyes threw an interception to Damien’s Gavin Williams.
Arriaza threw his first touchdown pass to Williams for 19 yards, giving Damien a 7-0 lead.
Penalties killed Aquinas, whenever they seemed to move in the right direction, they’d get called back for illegal formation, an illegal block or roughing the passer.
Eric Osorio scored a 44-yard touchdown to put Damien on top 14-0 at the half.
Despite being down by two scores, Aquinas didn’t back down. They came into the second half with passion and energy.
On Aquinas’ first drive of the third quarter, Reyes ran for an 18-yard touchdown and running back Champ Brown completed the two-point conversion, bringing the score to 14-8.
Damien punted to end its next possession, but Aquinas’ special teams fumbled the ball and Braden Cabildo recovered it, putting the ball back into Damien’s hands. Aquinas stopped the drive with an interception by Ryan Sanchez.
Aquinas drove down the field and reache the 28-yard line before Reyes threw his second interception of the night, this time to Andrew Metz.
“We had three turnovers. Can’t do that,” Aquinas coach Jordan Brusig said. “All in all, I think there’s a lot to work on, but I thought there were a lot of good things. … We just have to keep getting better every day.”
And this time, Damien made sure to take advantage of their defensive excellence.
Damien’s final score was a 40-yard touchdown pass from Arriaza to Williams, but the two-point conversion attempt was incomplete.
“We took what they gave us,” Arriaza said. “We played a little sloppy, but we’ll just build on this week, go over the film and get better next week.”
