YORBA LINDA – Tyler Switzer threw four touchdown passes, and Jahquon Speed broke loose for a 36-yard touchdown run to lead Valencia to a 41-7 season-opening nonleague victory over Yorba Linda on the Mustangs’ field Friday.
Switzer connected with Jacob Briggs for scoring passes of 40 and 68 yards and with Chach Ben-Yisriael for 17 and 11. The 6-foot, 170-pound senior completed 10 of 14 passes for 184 yards and didn’t have an interception. He also had 51 yards rushing on four carries.
Briggs, a 5-foot-9, 180-pound senior, had six receptions for 149 yards, and Ben-Yisrael had three catches for 29 yards.
The 5-foot-8, 170-pound Speed had 65 yards on 10 carries. Darren Sandoval added 37 yards on 10 carries.
Valencia’s defense limited Yorba Linda (0-1) to 109 yards rushing and 40 passing. The Mustangs’ Mason Winter, a 5-foot-8, 190-pound junior, rushed for 133 yards on 28 carries including a 14-yard touchdown with 36 seconds to play.
Yorba Linda quarterback Kamren Freck was sacked by outside linebacker Alec Sweet and outside linebacker Jason McHale. Freck completed 5 of 15 passes for 40 yards and had one intercepted.
Yorba Linda reached the Valencia 27-yard line in the first quarter, but Freck was intercepted by Mason Paine in the end zone.
The Tigers (1-0) put together an 80-yard, 12-play drive on the ensuing possession.
Valencia faced a fourth-and-1 at its 41, and Coach Mike Marrujo decided to run out of punt formation. McHale gained 4 yards for the first down.
The Tigers reached the Yorba Linda 40 four plays later and Switzer hit Briggs, who dashed through the Mustangs’ secondary for a 40-yard touchdown with 53.1 seconds left in the first period.
Switzer ran 38 yards to open Valencia’s 80-yard drive on its opening possession of the second period. Three plays later, Speed broke a couple of tackles to get into the secondary and ran past defenders for a 36-yard touchdown for a 13-0 lead with 8:43 left in the first half.
Valencia increased its lead to 20-0 at the half on Switzer’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Ben-Yisrael on a slant pass with 3:38 remaining. It was the concluding play of a 56-yard, nine-play match.
Switzer found Briggs wide open behind the defense and hit him for a 68-yard touchdown with 5:41 left in the third for a 27-0 Valencia lead.