Cougars fall to Palo in season opener

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By Sonye Estrada

The Coronado offense sets up for their next play against Palo Verde at home on Friday, Aug. 28. Palo took with win by a touchdown.
The Coronado offense sets up for their next play against Palo Verde at home on Friday, Aug. 28. Palo took with win by a touchdown.

The varsity football team played their first game of the season at home against Palo Verde on August 28. The Cougars started strong but ended the night with a loss.

During the first half of the game the Cougars had a lead, scoring the first touchdown of the night within the first five minutes of the game. Falling short at the end of the first quarter, Palo Verde scored with two rushes into the end zone. By the end of the first half, the Cougars had recovered before time ran out and left the field for the half with the score 14-13.

With a rapid start to the second half, Palo gained a touchdown with six minutes left on the clock in the third half, leaving the  Cougs down by 5. Although Palo had an injured player in the third quarter, they still managed to score another touchdown with only a minute and a half left, rushing the ball almost fully through the end zone.

Jumping into a slow start of the fourth quarter with a yellow flag and a pass interference called against the Panthers and multiple tackles all ready, Palo stole the clock as they reached the final minutes of the game.

“We just didn’t have enough time to finish,” senior Justin Serafino (20) said.

The Cougars answered with a rapid touch down in the last two minutes of the game. Though shortly after the touchdown, senior D.J. Davis, Jr. (1) injured  his left leg and had to sit out for the rest of the game. With the final score of 27-20,  the Cougars fell  to the Panthers by a touchdown.

“Hopefully we come together as a team, (We are) just hoping to play as one big unit,” senior Jordan Patterson (34) said.