Despite coming off a strong win against Andrew Hill last Friday, Leigh fell short in its second home game of the season against Independence, 36-24. With the loss, Leigh drops to 1-1, while Independence starts its 2012 season at 1-0.
Early in the first quarter, senior running back Jojo Valenzuela scored Independence’s first touchdown, followed by a two-point conversion by wide receiver Khari Vanderbilt. However, Leigh started to gain some speed later in the quarter with a 22-yard field goal by senior Michael Leitchman to cut the Sixers' lead to 8-3.
However, the 76ers responded with 20 points in the second quarter, including a dazzling run by Valenzuela and another two-point conversion for a 30-10 lead at halftime. The Longhorns' lone second-quarter score came on a 12-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Gabe David to Tommy Druhan that cut the Independence lead to 22-10.
“We had that extra week to prepare, and (Leigh) came off a big victory from Andrew Hill, and we were a little worried about the atmosphere," Independence head coach Norm Brown said. "We wanted to see how our kids would react because we haven’t won an opening game since I’ve been coaching.
"It’s been seven or eight years since we’ve won an opening game, and so we talked about that and how that would feel and what that would mean to our program, to our players, our staff, our school, (and) our community."
Independence continued to dominate the game with a 59-yard touchdown run by A.J. Anderson. And although Leigh pushed back during the fourth quarter with an early touchdown and then an interception by Alec Smith that set up running back Lavon Donald for another touchdown with 1:07 left, it wasn't enough as the Sixers held on for a 36-24 win.
Valenzuela proved to be one of Independence’s star players of the night, rushing an impressive 158 yards and scoring three touchdowns to help lead the 76ers to their first opening game victory in years. Although Independence’s senior-laden offense had their way with the Leigh defense, Davis and Donald stood out for the Longhorns.
“We just didn’t know how we could contain them," Brown said. "Hats off to Leigh - they played great and very hard, especially the second half."
It was an impressive win for the 76ers, but they know they can get even better during the course of the season.
“We have a lot of room for improvement, but we still all played together, and no one was selfish on this team," Valenzuela said. "We just plan to work hard and hustle, and above all else just hustle, hustle, hustle. And if that goes right, we’ll line up on the ball well, and we’ll execute our plays very well."
Independence will visit Silver Creek next Saturday afternoon (1:30 pm), while Leigh goes on the road to take on Santa Teresa (Saturday, 1:45 pm).
