By Coach Chris McComb, Dayton High School
On Friday night, Dayton’s Broncos were coming off a 42-0 drubbing at Friendswood. A win, or at least a respectable outing at Galena Park ISD stadium, was sorely needed for Coach Jeff Nations and his young men.
It didn’t look promising at the outset. Galena Park’s sophomore QB A’Marion Kelly found senior WR Caleb Aparicio streaking across the middle for 57 yards and a TD on the third play from scrimmage. With barely a minute gone in the game, the Yellowjackets led 7-0.
It didn’t take long for the Broncos to respond. After a penalty and a couple of pass completions to senior WR Brent Monceaux and fellow senior WR Mitch McCracken, Senior Christian Olige hit Junior Davin Lee on a 63-yard TD pass, with 9:02 left in the first quarter. Senior Jaime Pineda’s PAT made it 7-7.
From that point on, the Broncos stepped on the gas and did not look back. A block in the back penalty on the ensuing kickoff return would back GP back to its own 15. Senior Gaven Bennett would lead a herd of Broncos with a tackle for loss, on 2nd down. Another GP penalty followed, and on third down junior Zach Huntley picked off a A’Marion Kelly pass and gave the Broncos good field position on their 47.
Senior Josiah Griffith contributed a 10-yard run and Olige hit McCracken for 22 yards and another first down on the Galena Park 10. Griffith punched it in from the 5-yard line, giving the Broncos the lead that they never relinquished. Pineda’s conversion made it 14-7 Broncos with 4:16 left in the opening stanza.
After GP got the ball back, the two teams traded penalties, one of which wiped out a nice run on an end-around down the right sideline that would have set the Jackets up inside the Dayton 15. A’Marion got a good run down to the Broncos’ 12. Senior LB Lukas Lafargue stopped Senior GP RB Eliseo Quintero at the 6, setting up 3rd and 4 and ending the first quarter.
Gaven Bennett opened the second quarter with an outstanding open field, touchdown-saving tackle on A’Marion. On fourth down, Dayton called timeout. Galena Park did the same once the teams got lined up. Quintero was stopped on the 4-yard line, giving the ball back to Dayton on downs. GP jumped offsides, and on the next play Christian Olige pitched the ball to Davin Lee who took it 91 yards down the left sideline for the touchdown. Pineda added the extra point, and the Broncos now were on top 21-7 at the 10:21 mark of the second quarter.
After a couple of nice runs, the Yellowjackets fumbled the ball back to Dayton, setting the Broncos up on the GP 47. Olige completed a pass to McCracken on a comeback route on the sideline for a first, but then the team committed an illegal chop block penalty and a false start penalty to back themselves up. Galena Park stopped the Broncos on downs and took over on their 36. A swing pass and another Dayton penalty got the Jackets to the Bronco 34.
On the next play, Galena Park muffed a hand-off and turned the ball back over to Dayton. Dayton didn’t make any progress and had to punt. The Yellowjackets mishandled the punt return and set the Broncos up on the GP 12 after a Senior DB Bryce Powell-Chemene recovery. Two plays later, the Broncos fumbled the ball right back on the GP 5. The half ended with the score Dayton 21, Galena Park 7.
Senior DB Deon Robinson returned the second half kickoff to the Dayton 47. Senior RB Darius Zenon took an Olige hand-off and rumble 53 yards for a touchdown. Pineda made it 28-7 with his PAT, with only seconds gone in the third. GP went 3 and out and punted back to the Broncos. Junior RB Gene Fontenot got two carries for 10 yards and a first down.
Davin Lee got 16 more on an option pitch, followed by 10 more yards on a run. Not to be forgotten, Christian Olige got into the act, with a 9-yard run. Eventually, the Broncos had to settle for a 34-yard Jaime Pineda field goal, making the score 31-7.
The Broncos’ defense continued to impress, stopping GP 3 and out on their next possession. Dayton got a couple of first downs, but Gustavo Orozco punted the ball 46 yards back to the Jackets. GP QB Kelly hit Dayton senior DB Ty Pafford in the hands and Pafford returned the interception back to the GP 5. Dayton QB Olige pitched once again on the option, this time to sophomore RB Ashton Garner for a 5-yard TD. Pineda tacked on the PAT to make the lead 38-7, Broncos.
Junior LB Kameron George made a nice tackle on the next GP possession, as the Broncos’ confidence was building. A personal foul penalty backed up the Jackets to a 3rd down and 30-plus. Another penalty backed the Yellowjackets inside their 10.
Darius Zenon ended the third quarter with a “pick 6” on a brilliant play, stepping in front of a receiver who was going to catch a jailbreak screen. Jaime Pineda missed his point after, but by this time the outcome was all but decided. Sophomore Cam’ron Willis and his fellow Broncos gang-tackled the Yellowjacket ballcarrier. Deon Robinson picked off replacement QB Fransisco Villalobos pass and set up the Broncos with great field position.
On the next play, senior Josiah Griffith scampered 27 yards for another Bronco TD. That made the score 51-7, which it would remain. Senior DL Crishtian Medrano put the icing on the cake with an impressive tackle for loss. The Broncos made their second goal line stand of the game to deny Galena Park a second score, on the night.
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