SAN FERNANDO — The San Fernando Tigers made their presence felt on their turf, despite being the visiting team in Friday’s Valley Mission League football opener against Reseda.
The game was originally supposed to take place at Reseda, but they don’t have their field available this season.
A dominant first half by San Fernando led to a 38-0 win.
San Fernando head coach Johnny Sanders was proud of his team’s performance.
“We finally put a good game together,” Sanders said. “It has been a tough stretch with the things we have been going through. The heatwave put us in the gym. This was our second complete week on the field.”
San Fernando’s defense stepped in on Reseda’s opening drive to force a fumble. Moments later, Jayden Breazell connected with Jeremiah Paez for 13 yards to give San Fernando a 7-0 lead with the extra point being good.
In San Fernando’s next drive, Brandan Marshall scored on a 5-yard touchdown run. With the extra point being good, the Tigers led 14-0.
Despite missing his first field goal attempt, Bruno Lopez redeemed himself by hitting a 40-yarder to extend San Fernando’s lead to 17-0.
Toward the end of the half, things would continue to go downhill for Reseda. Breazell connected with Eduardo Escobedo for a 3-yard touchdown as San Fernando went up 24-0.
San Fernando’s offense did not give in with 17 seconds left in the half as Breazell connected a 3-yard pass to Madden Edwards and the Tigers took a 31-0 lead at the half.
Breazell said it was important to send a message to their opponent.
“We played well. We smacked them in the mouth. We kept the intensity going, which was important to secure the win,” Breazell said.
In the third quarter, neither team put points on the board, but Paez got a big interception for San Fernando when Reseda was knocking on the door.
In the fourth quarter, Kesean Leslie scored on a 5-yard runs for the final score.
Sanders said it was important to start league play with a win.
“It is important to start on the right foot. We have a big game next week against Van Nuys. We have Monday off to get healthy, and we will watch a lot of film,” Sanders said.
Reseda head coach Reginald Tyson said his team lacked competitive spirit.
“Some kids get down early, and they mail it in. I’m just being honest,” Tyson said. “We had blown assignments. We were lining up wrong. We wasted timeouts to remind them what we went over throughout the week.”
Tyson said discipline is important as they face Panorama next week.
“We have to seal the edges and cover the open receivers,” Tyson said. “Also, we have to tackle. If we are consistent with that, then we should be fine. If not, it will be another L.”
With the win, San Fernando improved to 3-2 overall, 1-0 in league play, while Reseda dropped to 1-3 overall, 0-1 in league play.
Reseda is on the road facing Panorama, while San Fernando hosts Van Nuys. Both games are on Friday at 7 p.m.