The Dolores Bears would like to forget about last week.
It was a rough outing against Salida last Friday that led to a 16-0 Bears defeat.
Dolores and Salida were in a defensive stalemate for most of the game, until the Spartans put together a 50-yard drive midway through the third quarter to finally break the eggs on the scoreboard and take an 8-0 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, Dolores’ Tristen Medina returned the kick 83 yards for a touchdown, only to have the play called back for a holding penalty.
After punting away the possession, Salida was unable to get anything going and punted the ball back.
The Bears muffed the punt on their own 11-yard line, setting up the Spartans for an easy score to take a 16-0 lead.
Salida held the Bears offense in check for most of the game, and even when Dolores got within striking distance, it was unable to convert.
Dolores finished with just 117 rushing yards and 44 passing yards. Credit the Salida defense, but head coach Chris Trusler also pointed to the Bears’ blocking.
“We just had terrible blocking, from our offensive line and from our running backs coming out of the backfield,” Trusler said.
“Last week we went 16-26 in the air, our best outing yet. Then against Salida we go 3-for-18. And a big part of that was receivers dropping the ball. On simple screens, on little five yard outs, whatever.”
“We beat ourselves against Salida,” Trusler continued. “It’s as simple as it can be.”
The Bears are looking to move forward after their subpar performance last week. After working all week at practice on blocking, ball control and catching, they’re hoping to get a win against a Centauri team that the Bears haven’t been able to snare in years.
“Dolores hasn’t gotten a win against Centauri in seven or eight years. So we know we’ve got to have our A-game this week and we’ve got to fire on all cylinders to get a win opening up in league play.”
Dolores (2-2) hosts Centauri (1-3) on Friday, with kickoff at 7 p.m.
