El Rancho football coach Adrian Medrano knew that after a year of quarantine and a shortened preseason, his Dons wouldn’t be especially sharp in their 2021 season opener against visiting Whittier.
And he was right.
But his players busted their butts and grinded out a 13-6 victory on Friday night.
According to Medrano, El Rancho held Whittier to just 39 plays from scrimmage, while the Dons ran 82.
His key contributors in the win include Anthony Bonilla, who gained 136 yards on 22 carries.
Bonilla also tallied two rushing TD’s to account for the Dons offensive output.
Jorge Villa had 24 carries for 115 yards.
And Angel Diaz had two tackles-for-loss and a sack.
Quotable:
El Rancho coach, Adrian Medrano: “It was great to be back on the field and give these guys an opportunity to compete. There were a lot of mistakes, but that was to be expected with such limited time to prepare. The bottom line is that the players on both teams showed a lot of toughness and character. I am especially proud of how well we played defensively.”
Box Score:
Whittier: 0-0-6-0-(6)
El Rancho: 7-0-6-0-(13)
Records: Whittier (0-1); El Rancho (1-0)
** Thanks to David Hernandez for the photos and Adrian Medrano for the game info.