Jesse Valenzuela ran for touchdowns on three straight carries on Saturday night and rushed for 251 yards in the first half as No. 1 Camarillo overwhelmed Bishop Diego 34-0 in a Camino League football game at La Playa Stadium.
Camarillo, the top-ranked team in CIF Division 4, remained perfect with records of 7-0 and 1-0. The Cardinals dropped their third in a row and fell to 3-4 and 0-2. The Scorpions have outscored their seven opponents 303-67.
Valenzuela, a 5-10 senior speedster, scored a 9-yard TD to cap a 74-yard drive on the Scorpions’ first possession. Camarillo went for 2 following a Bishop Diego offsides penalty but Adrian Soracco stuffed Valenzuela at the 1, leaving the visitors with a 6-0 lead.
Bishop Diego punter Adam Luckhurst had quite a night with a 47.7-yard average on six punts. He dropped a 38-yard punt at the Scorpions’ 6-yard line with 2:07 to go in the first quarter and a 51-yarder was downed on Camarillo’s 3 early in the second period.
Each time, Valenzuela broke free on the very first play and sprinted up the right sideline on long TD runs of 94 and 97 yards. On the first one, he plowed into the line, then spun out to the right and turned on the jets. On the third play of the second quarter, he took a handoff and went over left tackle, then cut back to the right for a 97-yard score and a 20-0 lead.
“I’m prepared for everything and that’s one of the situations I love to be in,” said Valenzuela. “I love to be with my back against the wall so I can go out and do big things for my team. I’ve had a lot of improvement in the last couple of years. If I did those runs last year, I would have got caught.”
Valenzuela racked up 251 yards on 10 first-half carries and the Scorpions built a 34-0 advantage. He had a fourth TD run of 12 yards in the last minute of the second quarter but it was erased by a holding call. He managed just 18 yards in the second half and finished with 15 carries for 263 yards and three TDs of 9, 94 and 97 yards.
“Bishop’s defense was moving a lot slower than I expected, so I saw a lot of more open holes I could hit faster,” said Valenzuela. “I think they thought they could come out and stop our run but it’s not stoppable when we get it blocked up right. Our line … I love those dudes. I go to war with them every day.”
On the fourth play of the game, the Scorpions had a fourth-and-3 on their 33. Valenzuela was the up blocker and he called his number for a fake punt that went for a 26-yard gain.
“If I see that we have them outnumbered on one side, it’s a go and I’m taking it,” he stated. “Coach knows me and we needed a big play there.”
Camarillo dominated the first half in first downs (13-4) and total yards (413-37).
Senior quarterback James McNamara completed his last 11 passes in the first half and was 12-of-14 in the first two quarters for 143 yards. He scored the fourth TD on a 14-yard scramble to the right side and his 22-yard TD pass to Donovan Davis made it 34-0 with 17 seconds left in the first half.
McNamara completed 14-21 for 173 yards on the night. He had a first-and-goal from the 4 late in the third quarter but sophomore safety Marcus Chan picked off his down-and-out throw in the end zone.
“Their execution offensively and defensively was just solid,” said coach Tom Crawford, whose team suffered its first shutout in at least five years. “They had a bye week to prepare and get healthy. Their quarterback played lights-out and he’s done that all season long. They have enough versatility and athleticism to keep you off balance.
“I was real pleased that our guys just kept playing and I thought we played pretty darn well in the second half. As we said to them after the game, we just have to keep working and improving on a daily basis. And not worry so much about the scores.”
Bishop QB Jackson Haskell connected with tight end Maddox Stretz for a 30-yard completion on the Cardinals’ last drive. They finally got into the end zone with 1:35 to play when Haskell tossed a 23-yard TD to Chan but it was called back by a holding penalty.
The Scorpions rushed for 310 yards on 27 carries for an 11.5-yard average.
Crawford knew that Valenzuela is a dangerous threat any time he touches the ball.
“He hits the hole and if he gets a seam, he looks like a track star,” said Crawford. “Unfortunately, we had them pinned down with great kicking by Adam Luckhurst. And then we give up the big play. Once he got into space, we didn’t have anyone who could catch him.”
The Scorpions were chasing Bishop’s quarterbacks – Haskell and Michael Luckhurst – all night and recorded four sacks. The Cardinal duo completed just 4 of 12 passes for 60 yards.
“It’s partially a timing thing for our quarterbacks and receivers and I also think that every game up front, we’ve had to roll different bodies in and play different combinations,” said Crawford. “Jackson displayed a lot of toughness, he was playing a lot of defense too in the first half.”
The Cardinals will face their third straight top-10 opponent next Friday when Paraclete of Lancaster comes to La Playa Stadium for a non-league contest at 7:30 p.m. The Spirits (5-3) routed Righetti 42-7 two weeks ago and are ranked No. 9 in CIF Div. 3.