(Tucson, AZ) Bill McCulloch
On a wet and soggy night that had numerous players slipping, passes being dropped and fumbles from wet balls, the 520 Sports Talk Spotlight Game of the Week was a back and forth affair dictated by penalties and a slippery Titan field.
Catalina came into the game very confident, but that got them in trouble last week against Ben Franklin where they suffered their only loss.
The Trojans got on the board first with a 38 yard field goal by Clemente Quintero after an initial miss from 39 yards.
Both teams tried to establish an offensive flow, but were thwarted by penalties. There were sparks of offense by the Titans, but Catalina’s defense always came up with a stop when needed.
On the other side of the ball, the athletically superior Trojans couldn’t get it gear with dropped passes on several key third down tries. Quarterback Malik Martin’s passes were on the money but drops by Leon Hays and Philippe Kijana subsequently stalled the scoring chances.
The Trojans added to their lead with a 44 yard field goal from Quintero.
After a couple of three and outs by both teams, Catalina score a touchdown on a run from Tra Daniels to go into halftime up 13-0.
Coming out of the locker room, the Titans showed their halftime adjustments caught Catalina a little by surprise when elusive quarterback Devonte Bates shredded the Trojan front line on a couple of long runs by scrambling out of the shotgun.
With the Titans on the move with their first sustained drive into Trojan territory, the elements once again came into play as they coughed up the ball on the twelve yard line and the scoring threat evaporated into the thick night air.
Catalina intercepted two of Bates passes when the Titans were forced or air it out attempting to come back. The bend don’t break defense from the Trojans stepped up when needed, but much work will have to be done before the looming showdown with Sabino.
The Trojans capped off the scoring late in the final quarter to put an already big lead out of reach with a sensational and redemption catch by Kijana to the eight yard line. Two plays later Senior Kasey Elsman plowed over from the two yard line. Game, Set, Match Trojans 19-0.
