By Jonathan Andrade
For The Signal
Jamison Torres’s night was over faster than it took him to lace up his cleats.
On the second play from scrimmage against Antelope Valley, the Golden Valley senior receiver took a vicious blow to the sternum while reaching over the middle of the field for a pass from junior quarterback Brandon Contreras.
The crowd collectively grimaced at the impact, but the scare was far from over.
Torres, visibly shaken by the hit, gingerly trotted to the sideline, where he tried to catch his breath before collapsing to the turf. Coaches and training staff surrounded the player while teammates took a knee, seemingly bracing for the worst.
“It was really scary,” Contreras said. “I honestly thought he was out for the whole season.”
Two minutes later, the senior was helped to his feet, much to the relief of the Golden Valley faithful in the Canyon High stands.
From that point on, the fears turned to cheers as the Grizzlies mauled their way to a dominant 32-6 blowout victory against the visiting Antelopes.
Golden Valley used an imposing ground game to overwhelm the Antelope Valley squad.
Senior Isaiah Orozco, who racked up more than 200 yards on the ground, said the jarring hit in the opening minutes motivated Golden Valley.
“Seeing one of our boys that we consider family go down from a cheap hit like that, I think it motivated us more than anything,” said Orozco, who had touchdowns on the ground and through the air.
After fumbling on its opening drive, Golden Valley got the offense going late in the first quarter with a pair of big plays, a 38-yard run by Orozco and a 32-yard catch by senior Sean Gomez. Contreras punched it in on a quarterback keeper on 3-and-1. Senior kicker Alex Risdon nailed the extra point to put Golden Valley up 7-0 with 3:14 left in the first quarter.
On Golden Valley’s next possession, Orozco broke loose for another big gain, this time a 51-yard scamper, but the drive stalled at the 10-yard line. Golden Valley settled for a Risdon field goal to go up 10 with 10-43 left in the second.
Antelope Valley, which was held scoreless in its opener against Brentwood, came close to getting on the board when quarterback Jonathan Clark found a wide-open Cameron Babineaux streaking up the left sideline. A pass that could have potentially been the Antelopes’ first points of the season, fell harmlessly to the turf when Babineaux failed to haul in the perfectly thrown ball.
But the threat wasn’t over. Golden Valley was called for a facemask to extend Antelope Valley’s possession, seemingly breathing life into the visiting squad, but AV once again botched the golden opportunity. A false start on the Golden Valley 1-yard line pushed the Antelopes back five yards. Clark was able to find an open receiver in the end zone, but another dropped ball ended the scoring threat.
“They catch those two, it’s 17-14 at the half,” said Golden Valley head coach Dan Kelley of the Antelopes’ missed opportunities. “Ball bounced our way tonight, and we need to work on those things that they exposed.”
Golden Valley padded its lead on the ensuing possession following a 54-yard gain by Orozco. He finished off the drive by catching a short screen pass and running it in for the 20-yard score. Orozco ended the first half with 191 yards on 12 carries.
The second half was more of the same: Antelope Valley turned the ball over on downs and Golden Valley marched the ball back down the field. The Grizzlies padded their lead with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Contreras to senior Julian Rios.
In the fourth quarter, Orozco once again found the end zone, this time on a rush from seven yards out to make it 32-0.
In garbage time, Antelope Valley quietly managed to drive the ball down the field to get on the board with a six-yard scramble by Clark. A two-point conversion attempt failed.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock, the focus returned to Torres, who was at the hospital being looked at.
“We’re happy he’s OK and we’re going to monitor him,” Kelley said. “He got hit pretty good, but it’s part of the game.”
