WILLOWS — The Orland High football team has made its presence known against its Glenn County rival Willows since 2009, winning the last 12 matchups.
In the 98th annual Battle of the Axe on Friday at Willows High School, the Trojans increased that number to 13 straight when they defeated the Honkers 55-6.
The overall record between the two schools in the game that dates back to 1922 is 54-43-1 in favor of Orland.
“Last year I was the junior on the team, I maybe didn’t have to have that leadership role, but this year with such a young group of guys I’ve been in the situation before and I know these type of games you just got to take it as any other games,” said Orland senior quarterback Grant Foster. “You can’t let the nerves get to you so I just tried to keep my composure and that rubs off the guys around me but they did a great job tonight.”
Orland High School head coach Nick Velazquez said a key to his team is its depth, specifically at the running back position. He said he feels this is the biggest improvement to this year’s team from the 2021 team.
This proved to be true Friday, as five different Trojans found the end zone running the ball.
“Some of these younger guys they’re stepping up big,” said Foster, who led OHS with six rushing touchdowns entering Friday. “It doesn’t have to be me all the time. I can take my break on the sideline, don’t need to get injured and these guys can make plays just like the starters would.”
Willows scored first after a punt by Orland on its first possession, but following the Honkers’ score on their first possession, it was all Orland.
Velazquez said he believes on a team filled with eight juniors on offense and seven juniors on defense all starting in their first Battle of the Axe, it was simply nerves that got to them.
“You could tell they got kind of tight,” Velazquez said. “Once we settled down and got that score, we kind of played ball.”
Orland stopped Willows on its first two plays for a combined loss of five yards. On the third play for the Willows offense Honkers’ quarterback, Tristan Bobadilla completed an 84-yard pass to tight end Adolfo Reyes that set up first down on the 1-yard line. Willows scored from 1-yard away with 7 minutes and 8 seconds left in the first quarter to take a 6-0 lead.
The point-after-kick was bobbled by the Willows snapper, and the momentum immediately shifted to OHS.
Less than one minute later Orland’s quarterback and leading rusher Foster scrambled left past the defenders and scored on a 65-yard rushing touchdown, but the point-after-kick was missed.
Exactly five minutes later Trojans’ back running Jaime Albarran scored his first-of-three rushing touchdowns of the game. Albarran scored from 2 yards away with 1:19 to give OHS a 13-6 lead and later scored from 15 yards away with 6:44 left in the second quarter to give the Trojans a 20-6 lead. Albarran added a third rushing score, this time from 1 yard away, with 5:53 left in the third quarter that gave Orland a 40-6 lead.
Albarran had two touchdowns entering Friday.
Halfway through the second quarter Orland running back Lucas Landeros scored his first touchdown of the season on a 15-yard rush to give his team a 26-6 lead, and Alex Martinez scored a rushing touchdown from 2 yards away with 3:23 left in the second quarter.
The touchdown by Martinez gave Orland a 33-6 lead going to the half.
Velasquez’s message to his team at halftime was to put more points on the scoreboard and get as many players into the game as possible.
“We got guys. We’re 3 deep in a lot of spots and hopefully, that’ll pay off,” Velazquez said. “We got three starters that are ineligible due to grades and we get them back week 9. This is the deepest team I’ve ever coached here. They’re very talented and we’re getting better.”
In the second half, Albarran scored halfway through the third quarter, and Jordon Orozco scored his first rushing touchdown of the season with 2:47 left in the third quarter.
Landeros scored his second touchdown of the game and second of the season, this time from 20 yards away with 4:28 left in the game. Landeros’ second touchdown gave Orland a 55-6 lead following a successful two-point conversion. That was the final score of the game for either team, as Willows finished the final two minutes by driving to the Orland 40-yard line, but the Honkers could not find the end zone after their first-quarter score.
On defense, senior Justin Skeslin, and juniors Khalil Coley and Christian Padilla made their presence known with an abundance of pressure on Willows QB Bobadilla. Foster also had a strong game on defense, intercepting a pass from Bobadilla at the start of the second quarter and nearly intercepting two other passes.
Orland retained the Axe once more as the Trojans made a victory lap together around the Willows field that finished around their home fans.
Orland (4-0) now prepares for a tough matchup against Durham (3-0) next week in a matchup between two undefeated teams. Kickoff next week begins at 7:30 p.m. in Orland.
The score
Orland 55, Willows 6
Up next: Durham at Orland, 7:30 p.m. Friday; Willows at Central Valley, 7 p.m. Friday.
