After battling the heat and the Lancaster Eagles (1-2), Golden Valley came out on top 7-6 and completed a milestone by going 3-0 for the first time in five seasons.

Head coach Dan Kelley stated that he hasn’t coached a team with this much talent since the 2019 squad that went 8-2. 

“They were going to be mostly returners coming back, but in 2020, we got hit with Covid,” said Kelley. “Every team took a step back after Covid. Since then, we haven’t been here, but we’re here now.”

Along with the satisfaction of winning, Kelley says that players come to practices and games more motivated and intensely focused on what is ahead.

Golden Valley running back Jamison Torres was a poster child for what a motivated player looks like. While he had no touchdowns, he had over 100 yards rushing, an interception and a handful of tackles.

Jamison Torres stiff arms a defender as he fights for additional yards.
Steven Barrera | KHTS

His ability to drive a pile and tire out a defense is second to none. Even when Torres isn’t getting the ball, his rushing ability allows the offense to use the play-action effectively, as the Grizzlies did late in the second quarter when Brandon Conteras found a wide-open Anthony Baldoze for a 25-yard touchdown.

Anthony Baldoze runs into the endzone after catching the Grizzlies sole touchdown of the game. Steven Barrera | KHTS

While it’s no secret that Torres is an incredible athlete and football player, Kelley says his role is much bigger than that.

“If you watch him, he’s a coach on the field. He could coach right now and he knows the offense and defense,” said Kelley. “He’s been in the program for four years and both his brothers have played at Golden Valley, too. They’re a GV family and I’m proud of them.”

While Torres had an eventful night, it was a true team win that came down to two key moments.

The first was when the Grizzly’s defense was in a difficult situation after giving up a touchdown with five minutes left to play and the Eagles decided to go for two and take the lead.

In the face of adversity, Golden Valley came up with a big stop and was able to punch the ball out and create a fumble.

“That was a clutch stop by AJ Deronvil. He stepped in, made a good tackle, brought the ball carrier down and also made him fumble. That was a good heads-up play by our DB, Anthony Seragusa, to recover that,” said Torres. 

The other was the Grizzlies’ final drive of the game, during which the offense was able to run out the clock with nearly three minutes left to play. With a couple of big third-down conversations Golden Valley was able to move the sticks and keep the clock running.

“We did some great clock management there, got the first down on third and one and we’re able to kneel it out,” said Kelley.

Golden Valley lines up in the victory formation one last time to advance to 3-0.
Steven Barrera | KHTS

Torres expressed a similar opinion saying, “I feel like our O-line fought hard. Lancaster was bringing a lot of guys in the box, but they did their job and we got third-down conversions when we needed to.”

Golden Valley looks to continue their win streak next Friday when they take on South Pasadena on the road.

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