Photos and article by Darrel Wheeler
It’s been a little over a decade since the two storied youth football associations met for a Saturday morning football contest. Balboa’s 12-and-under Raiders easily overwhelmed the rebuilding Hornets with a superior defense, keeping Valencia Park (VP) off the scoreboard at San Diego High’s Balboa stadium last Saturday.
On offence the more experienced Raiders scored almost at will, finding the opposition’s end zone a nice place to hang out.
“We were really prepared for this game. We had good practices and we played together as a team today and now we have to get ready for Bonita next week,” Raider Lee Norman shared.
Mr. Isaiah Collins, Donald Reed, Jayshawn Knox and Isaiah Jackson with Lee Norman were some of the players that led the attack-mode Raiders to another impressive victory.
Realizing the miss-match VP Head Coach Mike Ford pulled the plug on the game in the third quarter.
“I didn’t want to risk getting any more players hurt with the score the way it was. It didn’t make sense,” Coach Mike shared.
“It’s good to have VP back in the league. Hopefully they can get back to their competitive ways. I think they will be alright,” Balboa President Ed Smith said.
Mr. Smith is also asking all former Raider coaches, players, cheerleaders and family to a Raider reunion at Balboa Stadium Oct 5th.
