El Dorado Wins at Last, Spoils Debut

PLACENTIA —  El Dorado High School, a team that didn’t win a game last year, defeated Century, 34-9, Friday night in the season opener for both teams.

It was also the first varsity game for Century, a school only in its second year of existance.

So as Century fans walked off the field at Valencia High School, many were muttering about how Century, a team with no seniors, had little chance against an established program.

Tell that to Eric Ayala.

Ayala, an El Dorado junior, scored three touchdowns--including an 84-yard return of the opening kickoff. Not only was this Ayala’s varsity debut, but he didn’t play football at all last year.

Ayala scored his second touchdown on an 84-yard punt return, giving El Dorado a 13-3 lead at the start of the third quarter. Less than five minutes later, he scored his third on a one-yard dive.

“It was our line,” said Ayala, a 5-foot-8, 145-pound tailback and defensive back. “It was all blocking. A tailback can’t do anything unless someone’s there to make the holes. They were made for me.”

Although El Dorado’s running game only gained 14 yards total in the first half, sophomore running back Bryan Warner found his groove in the second half, scoring two touchdowns on runs of five and 27 yards.

“It was by no means a mistake-free game for us,” said El Dorado Coach Rick Jones. “But this win feels so good for the players and everyone. We have to learn how to win again and keep learning how to win. This one tonight obviously helps.”

Carlos Lopez kicked a 30-yard field goal for Century in the first quarter. But the Centurions (0-1) didn’t score again until sophomore quarterback Rick Odoardi scored on an 11-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Odoardi had a rough night, completing just three of 13 passes for 61 yards.

After the game, Century Coach Bill Brown gathered his players and told them, “We’re not going to measure our success by that scoreboard, men, we’ll measure it by how much we improve.”

Later he added, “We played hard, but we’re just not mature, that’s all. We’re young kids, and when they got that punt return for a touchdown, that really hurt us.”

The victory ended an 11-game losing streak for El Dorado.