A week after a disappointing loss in their Desert Empire League opener, the Palm Desert Aztecs took advantage of a depleted Rancho Mirage team for a 31-7 victory to get back into the DEL race.
Palm Desert scored the first 24 points of the game on the way to a 31-7 home victory, leaving Palm Desert one of four league teams at 1-1, one game behind Palm Springs.
“It was good. I was proud of the kids,” Palm Desert head coach Rudy Forti said. “It was senior night and they were all fired up. They did what the needed to do.”
Palm Desert grabbed a 24-0 lead at halftime against a Rancho Mirage team (4-3, 0-2) that was without several players because of suspensions after an on-field altercation in their league-opener against Shadow Hills. One of those players was Jeremiah Johnson, who Forti conceded was a huge loss for the Rattlers.
“That kid does everything for them, safety, corner, receiver, punt returner. I mean, the guy does it all,” Forti said. “He’s a great athlete and unfortunately he was missing tonight, which made it tough for them.”
Palm Desert took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter on a field goal and a 3-yard rushing touchdown by Jonah Toland. That lead grew when Palm Desert’s Angel Rangel intercepted a pass and raced 36 yards for a touchdown, Later in the second period Palm Desert quarterback A.J. Rivera hit Trey Boulton with a 13-yard scoring pass.
Rancho Mirage finally scored in the third period on a 35-yard pass by quarterback Julian Hernandez to cut the lead to 24-7. But Rivera and Toland hooked up for another touchdown, this one a 38-yard pass, for the final 31-7 score.
Forti was happy with his team’s bounce back from a loss to Xavier Prep the previous week, but he said his team was far from perfect Friday.
“We had too many penalties,” Forti said. “It was kind of disappointing at the end. We had a late hit on the quarterback when we should have got off the field. And then had a false start and then we had an unsportsmanlike conduct celebration after a touchdown. So something just kind of gets away from you.”
Palm Desert now faces a bit of a short week when they travel Thursday to face Shadow Hills. Rancho Mirage will be at home Friday to face La Quinta.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Desert rebounds from tough league opener to beat depleted Rancho Mirage
Reporting by Larry Bohannan, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
