GREENFIELD — Greenfield High running back Jose Uribe rushed for a season-best of 168 yards in the Bruins 48-22 Mission Trail Athletic League opener in Santa Cruz. Greenfield manhandled the host Harbor Pirates in the second half breaking open the contest after leading 21-14 at the half. The Bruins outscored the Pirates 27 to eight in the final two quarters.
“We didn’t start off really well and fumbled away the football in our first two offensive series,” said Bruin head coach Ryan Bravo. “At halftime we got our players going and they went out played well the rest of the game. We made a move by using Andy Espinoza as a receiving tight end and he produced great numbers. He can block and catch the ball and he finished with seven receptions for 96 yards. Our job is to put players in positions where they can best help us to win. It was important to open the league season with a win after we faced three tough teams in the preseason.”
The Bruins survived some sloppy play in the first half and took a 21-14 halftime lead. The second half was all Greenfield as the Bruins outscored the Pirates by a 27-8 tally. Brayan Ceballos caught two touchdown passes and Rodrigo Frias caught one touchdown pass from Hernandez.
Greenfield finished the game with 540 yards of offense, including 359 rushing yards. Uribe led the Bruins, followed by 98 rushing yards by Hernandez, and 71 yards on nine carries by LJ Richardson. Hernandez threw three touchdown passes and was 14 of 23 for 181 yards.
In the junior varsity game the Bruins defeated the Pirates by a 44-6 score. The win was the first of the season for Greenfield. Running back Sebastian Meza ran for two touchdown and fellow running back JD Lopez ran for one offensive touchdown and ran back for a score with an interception. Adding touchdowns for Greenfield were Antonio Chiquito and Ivan Torres who scored on fly sweep.
Hopefully we can keep it going after getting the first win,” said Greenfield head JV coach Bill Riddell. “We will have a challenge this week when we host St. Francis and hope to continue to play good football.”
Riddell and his staff praised the defensive play of Alex Garcia for blocking a punt and Hector Aispuro for coming up with an interception.
