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WaveNewspapers.com: Roosevelt faces a desperate opponent
By RON GUILD, Sports Editor 16.OCT.08
Roosevelt High School might be facing a desperate team when South East visits Friday in an Eastern League football game.
The Rough Riders, at 5-1 overall and 2-0 in league, share the top spot in the standings with Garfield (3-3, 2-0).
South East, on the other hand, is 1-5 and 0-2. Another loss puts their playoff hopes in jeopardy, meaning the Jaguars are in a must-win situation.
Though they are at opposite ends of the standings, Roosevelt coach Javier Cid is not taking the Jaguars lightly.
“We’ve lost to them the last two years,” he said. “We need to go 3-0, but they’re looking to rebound. They need to beat us if they want to go to the playoffs, so I’m expecting a difficult game. Except for one, every one of their losses has been close.
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South East has some threats on the offensive end.
Quarterback Jonathan Reyes is one of the Eastern League’s top passers, wide receiver Fernando Magana is one of its top receivers and tailback Senen Carson is generally regarded as the premier ball carrier.
“They’ve got a pretty good little passer who is close to 1,000 yards,” Cid said. “They have probably the best running back in the league in Senen Carson. They’ve been scoring a lot of points.
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So has Roosevelt, which is coming off a 44-3 rout of Bell (3-2, 0-2).
Playing nearly penalty-free football, the Rough Riders rolled behind the passing of Jesse Diaz, who threw for 258 yards and three touchdowns despite throwing only 11 passes (he completed eight). He lost credit for a fourth scoring pass when Alex Ramirez, at the end of a 55-yard gain, had the ball knocked loose. It rolled into the end zone where Ramirez recovered for the touchdown.
Diaz did get credit for scoring tosses to Manny Ayon (67 yards), Jose Guillen (30) and Elgin Rosales (69). Ayon had four catches for 103 yards.
Sophomore running back Isaac Huerta, playing primarily in the fourth quarter, rushed for a team-high 55 yards on eight carries and scored the final touchdown on a six-yard run.
Safety Daryl Lazo’s 45-yard interception return for a score highlighted a defensive effort that featured three turnovers.
“The big key for us was limiting our penalties,” Cid said. “We didn’t have the penalties we usually have. We moved the ball on everyone, but have hurt ourselves in the past.
“Defensively, we were solid. They (Eagles) were missing their quarterback, so it made them one-dimensional. We only had to worry about stopping the run.”
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