WOODLAND HILLS — El Camino Real football entered Friday night searching for its first victory. Panorama arrived without a loss.
Behind sophomore Elijah Tolbert and a strong defensive effort, El Camino Real reversed both trends.
El Camino Real defeated Panorama 21-8 in a nonleague game, giving the Royals (1-3) their first victory of the season and handing the Pythons (3-1) their first loss.
Panorama struck first when Brandon Hernandez Villa scored a touchdown and the Pythons converted the ensuing 2-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.
El Camino Real responded in the second quarter. A 30-yard run by Tolbert helped set up a touchdown by senior receiver Ethan Sarmiento.
Tolbert then scored a touchdown to give El Camino Real a 14-8 lead.
The sophomore credited his teammates, particularly junior Gabriel Varga, who moved from quarterback to running back against Panorama.
“Honestly, everyone did their job and I’m proud of them,” Tolbert said. “On offense, we just knew our game plan: pass the ball, run the ball and Gabe showed up out there. I’m proud of him.”
Varga added another touchdown before halftime as El Camino Real extended its lead to 21-8.
Varga said the Royals focused on finding weaknesses in Panorama’s defense and attacking them.
“It was honestly just to find their holes and weaknesses and smash the ball through them,” Varga said. “And also just pass. We just played our way of football and it paid off.”
Panorama’s defense kept El Camino Real off the scoreboard in the third quarter, but the Pythons were unable to capitalize offensively.
The Royals continued to make stops in the second half. Junior Diego Garrido tackled Hernandez Villa on one play, and junior Ryan Tabolsky helped stop Panorama on fourth down as El Camino Real kept the Pythons scoreless after halftime.
Panorama coach Adrian Beltran said he expected a difficult matchup despite El Camino Real entering the game without a victory. Beltran has coached Panorama since at least 2013 and is also listed by the school as its athletic director.
“We knew their line was big and they’re aggressive, they’re fast,” Beltran said. “They came in here 0-3, but they played good competition. We knew it was gonna be a tough outing. We tried to run a quick tempo, but they did a good job adjusting.”
As the final seconds ran off the clock, El Camino Real celebrated its first victory of the season.
After the coaches addressed the team, Tolbert delivered a message of his own, telling his teammates, “This is not a celebration,” and emphasizing the importance of playing together.
“[This win] gets us excited because I knew we were talented the whole time. It’s just nobody knows because we were 0-3,” Tolbert said. “I just needed to step up, show out and I think I did a good job.”
Both teams return to the road Friday. El Camino Real travels to Knight, while Panorama opens Valley Mission League play at Canoga Park. Those matchups check against both teams’ published schedules.
“We got to take this as a learning experience,” Beltran said. “It’s humbling. We are going to watch film, we are going to get better. Our kids are great kids … we’re just a better team.”