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Roosevelt Holds On to Beat Wilson

With only 37 seconds remaining, interception seals Rough Rider win.

By Mario Villegas, Exclusive to EGP

The non-league matchup between the Roosevelt and Wilson high school football teams is one of the toughest games of the year and last Friday’s meeting was no exception as Roosevelt held on for a 21-20 victory.

Roosevelt High School running back Jonathan Alatriste breaks into the open field to set up the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter of last Friday’s victory over Wilson. (EGP Photo Mario Villegas)

Turnovers keyed the Rough Riders’ victory as they intercepted two passes in the fourth quarter and converted a fumble recovery into a touchdown late in the first half.

Roosevelt entered the game coming off a 41-0 defeat to Torrey Pines of the San Diego Section and another long night appeared to be in store when Wilson, playing its season opener, jumped to a stunning 20-7 lead in the second quarter highlighted by Anthony Denham’s 75-yard scoring play. Moreover, the Mules were looking to snap a two-year losing streak to their rival from a few miles down Soto Street, including last year’s 20-17 overtime loss.

Trailing 20-14 in the third quarter, the Rough Riders went ahead on quarterback Jesse Diaz’ 12-yard touchdown run that ended with him diving across the goal line. Jonathan Alatriste’s PAT kick proved to be the difference in the game. He had also set up the score with a 15-yard run on the previous play.

In the fourth quarter, Roosevelt’s Mando Perez intercepted a pass with 4:32 to play and Jose Barragan sealed the victory with an interception with 37 seconds remaining.

“We just adjusted in the second half and shut them down,” Roosevelt Coach Javier Cid said. “They have two really good receivers in Denham and Cole Martinez and they did a real good job for them. But we made some adjustments and we shut them down.”

Penalties remain an area of concern for Cid.

“We had three or four drives stopped by penalties and it was very similar to what happened to us at Torrey Pines,” he said. “We need to fix our penalty problem and be more consistent.”

The Rough Riders (1-1) welcomed the return of middle linebacker Rafael Ortega, who missed the first game because of a sprained ankle.

“Having him back in there calling signals, making checks and getting everybody adjusted really helps a lot,” Cid said.

Roosevelt scored on its first series of the game with Alex Ramirez scoring on a three-yard run to stake the Rough Riders to a 7-0 lead. Trailing by 13, they got to within 20-14 with sophomore Jesse Lira scoring on a four-yard run late in the second quarter after the fumble recovery.

The Rough Riders play Contreras (0-2) at 7pm Friday night at home, while Wilson (0-1) plays host to Garfield (1-1). Garfield is coming off a 31-22 loss to St. Paul.