Football season is back and breathtaking, especially here in the legendary field and home stadium of Ayala’s Bulldogs. After beating Ontario Colony on a road game, the Bulldogs return for their first home game of the 2024 – 2025 football season.
During last Saturday’s game, the Ayala Bulldogs still stayed victorious, beating the Desert Pines Jaguars in a close but intense match. With an official final score of 26-30, the Bulldogs are on a good record of 2-0 so far. Varsity football head coach Arthur Gracia had good confidence in the team.
“We have a really tough schedule, so it got only tougher from Colony to Desert Pines and it’s gonna stay tough with our next opponents,” said Gracia.
The Bulldogs started the game with good defense and a great touchdown pass to the wide open man, #18 Blake Frausto (11) in the first quarter. After a failed field goal from both teams and a touchdown from Desert Pines, both teams were tied with six points by the end of that quarter.
The second quarter remained the same, the score still tied but at 13. Coming into the third quarter, a field goal was made, putting the Bulldogs up by three points, and an amazing defensive touchdown was made by #14 Adrian Tristan (11), putting the Bulldogs up by another nine points.
In the third quarter, Desert Pines started to catch up, and were closely creeping behind Ayala as the fourth quarter rolled around. It became tense as the Bulldogs were in a tight conflict with the Jaguars with the opposing team finally taking the lead around the fourth quarter.
With the score being 26-23, Ayala down by three and five minutes left in the final quarter, it was for certain that this game would be on the line. Although the stakes were high and the crowd anticipated an amazing play, what most did not know was that the Bulldogs were well prepared for circumstances like this.
“We have been practicing for moments like this all year, like the two-minute drill and that we were ready to face all that came to us,” Defensive End Caden Barrett (12) said. “We have players that are known to thrive under pressure like Jedi Hernandez or Dominic Williams, and I knew [that] they would clutch up and make a big play.”
Once the last timeout huddle broke, the Bulldogs in possession of the ball, senior quarterback, Alex Way, received a screen and launched the game winning pass to senior running back Jedi Hernandez. After the field goal kick following the touchdown was clear, Ayala’s defense helped keep their lead, and the official final score resided to 26-30 where the Bulldogs would take the win.
“Overall, we won in all three phrases. Defense played lights out in the late game,” said Gracia. “Offense made the plays when they needed to and more importantly, special teams didn’t make any mistakes that cost us and actually made some impact plays.”
The team has since then been training hard, and putting in all their effort in preparation for more games, especially with the new faces on the varsity football team. As the season goes forth, the Bulldogs are hoping that they will shoot high enough to qualify for the playoffs, and do so with a great supporting cast of coaches.
“Our coaches have as much passion as us,” said Safety Brayden Caviel (11). “They have great expectations for this team which drives us to achieve them. They truly care for everyone and are great coaches.”
Ayala’s next varsity football game will be played this Friday on September 13, facing off against Villa Park High School in an away game.
