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The562’s coverage of Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family.
The only thing that could stop Compton’s running game on Friday night was Compton. Fumbles undid early drives for the Tarbabes (3-2, 1-0) in their league opener against Cabrillo (0-5, 0-1), but once they secured the ball they were able to run over the Jags on their way to a 50-20 victory.
Compton ran the ball 48 times for 427 yards, averaging just short of nine yards per carry. Though the team was without a few starters, including running back Erick Barrios who is still nursing an injury and was extremely limited, head coach Calvin Bryant was happy that they were able to settle in and pick up the victory.
“I have to be mindful that we don’t have all our guys,” Bryant said. “Erick, once he’s 100 percent would make a big difference. Hats off to (Cabrillo), they played well, Coach is doing a great job, I’m so proud of what he’s doing over there. I just want to take this win and hopefully carry that over to next week and the following weeks in Moore League play and continue to grow and get better.”
Quarterback Aava Lilomaiava had a nice night, racking up 111 rushing yards on just eight carries while running in three scores. He was happy to get Compton back in the win column after dropping their last two non-league games.
“After losing two straight, it feels good to get a W,” Lilomaiava said. “There’s a lot of stuff we could work on to have a more clean W, just some stuff to work on. It was a little bit sloppy but we can get it together.”
He certainly had help in the ground game, especially John John Bledsoe, who made his season debut for Compton in a big way. Bledsoe had 11 carries for 144 yards and two touchdowns, and also completed a 53-yard TD pass to Hayden Ginn in the second half. Ginn racked up 127 yards on 12 touches for Compton.
“I'm feeling great,” Bledsoe said. “I can't wait to get home to celebrate. Got a welcome back touchdown, welcome back passing touchdown, it feels great to help the team.”
The game started out great for Cabrillo as the Jags tried to put a difficult week behind them. On Compton’s first drive, Cabrillo’s Devin Edwards ripped the ball out of the ball carrier’s hands and sprinted the other direction for a 65-yard touchdown. That gave the Jags a 6-0 lead, which they held onto for the entire first quarter.
The Jags were able to quell each of Compton’s first three drives thanks to fumble recoveries, but the Tarbabes would score touchdowns on their final seven drives of the night to secure the win.
Edwards hauled in the final score of the night for Cabrillo, a 37-yard strike from QB Luis Haro on a play-action pass. Haro had 164 total yards, including 129 through the air.
Lilomaiava scored on a 51-yard run on the first play of the second half to give Compton a 29-6 lead. Cabrillo did answer back on the ensuing drive, capping it with a six-yard TD run for Haro to break up a run of 29 unanswered points for Compton.
Jeremiah Hall had Compton’s final TD of the night with a five-yard TD run with four minutes remaining.
The win gets Compton back on track with a game at Wilson next week, followed by their bye week. That gives them a good opportunity to get healthy before the final stretch run of the season and another potential playoff berth. When asked if he thought Compton would be a playoff team this year, Lilomaiava didn’t hesitate.
“Of course,” he said. “We just need to stay healthy and just keep working on a couple of things, but we'll be alright.”
Cabrillo will host Lakewood next week, looking for their first league win of the season and first since 2019.
