BHS Football: Aztecs look for revenge against Scorps

BARSTOW • From the time they were youths, the Barstow High School football players have been getting beat up by Hesperia.
From their time playing in Barstow Youth Football to their high school careers, Hesperia has regularly owned the Aztecs.

“Every year I played them since I’ve been in high school, we’ve barley been losing,” Senior running back Jerrelle Green said. “We are hungry for this win.”

Barstow coach Jose Rubio recalls a time when Barstow was able to beat Hesperia, but that was when he was growing up and Barstow was a bigger town than Hesperia. The Aztecs victories since then?

“I would say not many,” Rubio said.

Barstow will get its chance tonight at 7 when they travel to play Hesperia.

The Aztecs have gone up against Hesperia multiple times in recent years and been turned away with the same result — a close loss.
Since Barstow’s last win against the Scorpions in 2003, the Aztecs have lost by an average just 10 points in five matchups.

The Aztecs played Hesperia twice last season including a 19-6 loss in the first round of the playoffs.

In the playoff game, Barstow dominated the first half and controlled the clock, but Hesperia entered the second half with a 7-6 lead and closed out the Aztecs 19-6.

“It means a lot. This is the one we’ve been waiting for. We never got revenge since freshman year,” said senior Tulilo Tofi, recalling a 19-18 loss when he played freshman football.

Tofi will return as the starting quarterback for the game, replacing Ameer Hamdan. Tofi was named the starter on the first day of training camp but suffered a knee injury and was used mostly on defense during the first three weeks of the season.

To add more tension to the match, both teams are ranked. The Scorpions are undefeated, ranked No. 3 in the Eastern Division and have what Barstow coaches are calling their deepest team ever.

Barstow dropped from No. 5 to No. 9 in the poll following a 49-0 loss to Quartz Hill. Junior linebacker Steven Locke said the Aztecs have done their best to learn from that game, but also put it out of mind.

“This week has been a turnaround,” Steven Locke said. “We got right back into it right away. It’s been a good week of practice.”

“For the kids, they know,” Rubio said. “For me, it’s we’re playing one of the top teams in CIF. We’ll find out if we’re for real.”