Hilmar High varsity football avenged their previous four losses to Sonora and won their fourth straight game of the year after Friday’s 39-20 home contest that saw the home squad struggle with multiple turnovers in an uncharacteristically undisciplined game.
“Extremely sloppy, we have a lot of work to do. We are fortunate to get away with the win and it will be a busy week to fix all these mistakes,” said Hilmar head coach Frank Marques after winning their fourth straight.
The first half was a blur of mistakes for Hilmar. By half they led just 14-7, allowing Sonora to score on one of their multiple turnovers in the first half alone. They fumbled the ball over five times in the first half.
Hilmar scored on their first possession making it look easy when Ryan Teixeira found Bryan Millan for a 43-yard touchdown with 10:56 left in the first.
It took three plays for that score and the next possession they forced a punt.
Following two more three and outs, Hilmar’s Isaac Sharp found the end zone after he ran it in from 78 yards to make it 14-0 with 2:05 left in the 1st.
With 3:45 left in the second, Sonora found the end zone on a 2-yard keeper to make it 14-7 at the half.
Teixeira found Sharp for a 55-yard screen pass with 3:51 left in the 3rd to make it 21-14, but then Sonora struck back.
It took four plays to make it 21-14 with 2:33 after a quarterback keeper from Sonora's Jake Gookin saw him run it in from 57 yards out.
It took five plays for Hilmar to score in their first possession of the fourth.
Teixeira ran it in from 36 yards out to extend the lead to 27-14 with 10:06 left in the game after the missed extra point.
Tension rose in the second half with Hilmar getting multiple players ejected from the game.
Gookin found the end zone from 17 yards out with 7:10 left in the game to cut the lead to 27-20.
Teixeira had two passing touchdowns and a rushing score.
Hilmar scored again on a two-play drive that ended with a Sharp 83-yard run into the end zone to make it 33-20 after a missed extra point.
Teixeira found the end zone once more in the fourth quarter with 2:03 left in the game as he rushed for a score from 26 yards out to make it 39-20 after another missed extra point.
“We have to worry about ourselves, doesn’t matter who we play. We have mistakes we have to work on,” Marques added.
Next, Hilmar will take on Ripon to open league play on the road at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Watch coverage of the Hilmar vs Sonora game on this week's episode of The Blitz.
