Bel Air Stuns Canutillo at Home to Open 2-5A Play
Going in to their first District 2-5A game of the season at home against an 0-2 Bel Air squad seemed like it would have been an easy W for the Eagles; were they ever mistaken. The Highlanders came in to Lowenberg Stadium and put on an offensive show to hand Canutillo their first loss of the season, 55-34.
Bel Air knew they had a tough task by coming into a hostile environment to take on an exceptional defensive team who had allowed only 21 points all season. The Highlanders weren't intimidated at all though as they set the tone from the get go by scoring on their first possession of the game when QB Isaac Ybarra called his own number for a 2 yard QB keeper.
Canutillo would come right back and match Bel Air's opening touchdown with one of their own as QB Javier Arellano also scored on a 23 yard keeper to make it a 7-6 game, as the PAT was no good. Little did the Eagles know that their offense would struggle and they wouldn't score again until the third quarter.
Bel Air's relentless offensive attack led by QB Ybarra, who finished by going 15 for 18 with 263 yards, 77 rushing yards, 6 TD's, 2 passing and 4 keepers, gave then a comfortable halftime lead of 35-7. Canutillo went on a run in the third and fourth quarters by scoring 21 consecutive points, but it was too little too late for the Eagles to weather the scoring frenzy by Bel Air as the Highlanders cruised to the easy victory.
Bel Air RB Guillermo Perez was also a major contributor with 128 yards on 28 carries and 1 TD, while wide reciever Rudy Quezada had 8 catches for 197 yards and 2 TD's. With the win, Bel Air is now 1-2, 1-0 in District 2-5A and will host Parkland next Friday in our Football Friday Night game of the week.
With the loss Canutillo is now 2-1, 0-1 in District 2-5A and will travel to Hanks next week to face Coach Aaron Price and the Knights at Excalibur Stadium.