Branham defeated Evergreen Valley 35-0 on Friday night. It was the second consecutive shutout absorbed by the Cougars (0-7). Branham improves to 5-2.
“Its a combination of everything; we just aren’t playing football,” said Cougar coach Leo Olmsheid.
The night was disappointing for Evergreen as it had six turnovers, had only two first downs and got into the red zone only once. Senior quarterback Andrew Morgan completed 9 of 23 passes.
Branham quarterback Manny Magana, with better talent around him, only had six incomplete passes. Also headlining the Bruin offense was running back Larry Atkins who had three touchdowns, including a 20-yard sweep for a score.
“I just saw a hole, cut through it and cut right. From there it was open field and I ran to it,” Atkins said.
The teams had 14 penalties apiece.
“Penalties slow down any game of football to be honest," Branham coach Nick Gardiner said. "Penalties can kill drives, momentum, big plays. So obviously each team, win or lose, doesn’t want penalties to be part of what they’re doing, but it happens and hopefully you can overcome it as a team."
Evergreen Valley forced only two punts and one turnover.
“Come Monday, we’re going to have to flip a coin to choose where to start improving our game," Olmsheid said. "We have to go back to the drawing board. We have to relearn fundamentals. We need to learn to drive block. We need to get back to playing football."
The Bruins' defense was stout, forcing the Cougars to punt on six out of 10 possessions, with the other four possessions ending in turnovers.
“We did a great job of playing all facets of the game: offense, defense, special teams," Gardiner said. "They played together and they stuck together. They did a great job of executing offensively and defensively."
Next week, Branham faces 5-3 Westmont away, and Evergreen Valley meets first-place Lincoln at home.
