El Dorado Trumps Eastlake 45-35

By Alex Thompson, Sports Editor

The No.1 El Dorado Aztecs defeated the No.3 Eastlake Falcons 45-35 at the SAC (Socorro Student Activities Complex) through junior Cedarious Barfield’s four touchdowns and two touchdown passes to senior Jorge Hernandez.

The first quarter was an offensive frenzy, as El Dorado put up a quick 21-7 lead from Barfield’s two QB keeps from the 11 and 18-yard line and a pass to Hernandez. Senior Zyrick Bermudez recovered a fumble caused by senior Keysean Watson during Eastlake’s kick return, but the Aztecs couldn’t turn the opportunity into points.

The rest of the first half was slow for the Aztecs, as the Falcons caught up after a made field goal from Aztec senior Mario Balderas. The Aztec soon led going into the locker room 24-21.

The second half was all about the defense, as they caused four turnovers against the Falcons. Senior Tury Velez caught an interception on the 19-yard line, establishing the attitude the coaches wanted the defense to produce. Junior Cameron Hill gave Barfield a key block to run in the touchdown and extended the lead to 31-21. Later in the third, Julian Leyva recovered a fumble.

To start off the fourth, Hernandez received another touchdown pass and later on Barfield solidified the Aztec’s score with his own run at 45 points. The defense was there throughout the game either by stopping the ground game or by pushing back the pursuing Falcons.

Coach Torres’ first game as El Dorado’s head coach also produced his first win. At the end of the game, Torres explained what the team had to do to claim the victory.

“We needed to get our ground game running,” Torres said. “We have a lot of weapons outside and we knew they were going to play to our strengths.”

After complimenting the O-line and how the team played commandingly, Coach Torres thought strategically and won the Aztecs their season debut game.

Cedarious Barfield started in his first varsity game and scored numerous times with an awe-inspiring performance.

“It was awesome, you know? We all had first-game jitters, but we started off pretty fast and then slowed down,” Barfield said. “I feel like our offense, our defense, even our special teams were coming all together like a well-oiled machine and it looks like we’re going to have a great season.”

Cedarious looks like a true leader on the field and will hopefully inspire a long successful season.

Be sure to catch the battle against Wolfforth Frenship at 4 p.m. on Friday at the SAC.