July 26, 2024

OC Sports Zone: Community First

PHOTOS: Segerstrom football team shows ‘grit and resilience’ in season opening road victory

Segerstrom quarterback Jesse Lopez pitches the ball to Andrew Diaz. (Photos courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone).

Segerstrom High School’s football team opened the season Friday night with 24-21 non-league victory over San Pasqual.

“Our boys showed true grit and resilience,” Coach Joseph Tagaloa said Saturday. ” We looked a lot better than we did a season ago for our opener. The senior leadership this year has really rubbed off on the rest of the team. We had a bunch of individual standouts, but more importantly we came together as a team to get the victory.”

To see the slide show, click on the first photo:

Coach Tagaloa said the offense was impressive.

“On offense and fullbacks really had a great game,” he said. “Both Moki Leuma and Isaiah Valdivia ran hard all night. Valdivia scored the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter from an inside run. We had a touchdown pass thrown by Jesse Lopez to Andrew Diaz for a big score.

“Noah Tagaloa started the season off with the team’s first touchdown scoring on a run play in the red zone. Defensively our guys flew around all night getting to the quarterback and putting pressure on him. Gilbert Peralta had three sacks.

“Sonny Naiuli, Damien Orejel, and Vicente Rivera also played well on the defensive line. On special teams, Diego Hernandez was perfect in his kicks, which ultimately was the deciding factor. As a team, we like to grow from this tough, hard fought battle, having to go play at Valley next Friday night.”

Tagaloa said he was satisfied with the Jaguars’ effort.

“I was pleased with our effort and our ability to keep fighting for all four quarters,” he said,

Segerstom plays Santa Ana Valley Friday night at Santa Ana Valley.

Send football news to timburt@ocsportszone.com