HAYWARD — Valley Christian opened up a big lead before Clear Lake finally got onto the scoreboard Friday night and the Vikings went on to beat the Cardinals 34-13 in non-league varsity football action at Chabot College in Hayward.
In the first ever meeting between the two schools, Valley Christian of Dublin scored three times on the ground and also recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown to build a 27-0 lead midway through the second quarter. Clear Lake finally answered on a 1-yard run by quarterback Andre Buendia, who was filling in for the injured Steven Edwards. The TD run capped a 65-yard drive by the Cardinals (0-2).
Valley Christian (3-0) quickly countered on an 82-yard kickoff return by Howard Wilke to make it 34-7 at halftime. Wilke had earlier scored on a 46-yard run to give his team a 20-0 lead.
The only points in the second half came in the fourth quarter when Clear Lake”s Kenny Henninger scored on an 8-yard run.
The defeat proved to be a costly one for the Cardinals, who lost Luke Punzalan to a hamstring injury and Omar Vazquez to an ankle injury during the game.
“We moved the ball in the first half,” Clear Lake offensive coordinator Mike Hansen said.
The Cardinals drove the ball deep into Valley Christian territory on three occasions in the first half, but interceptions ended two of those possessions.
“It”s something to build on,” Hansen said of the three drives.
The Vikings, who play in the same league as Salesian, are a tough opponent, according to Hansen.
“They can run and throw. It will be real interesting when they play Salesian,” Hansen said.
Buendia finished with 53 yards on 13 carries and Vince Rave added 52 yards on 14 carries. Buendia also went 3-for-6 passing for 74 yards, including a 48-yard completion to Jacob Dekeyser to set up one of the Cardinals” two touchdowns.
Clear Lake”s junior varsity team also dropped to 0-2 with a 20-7 loss to the Vikings.
The Cardinals return to action a week from today when they travel to Petaluma to play the St. Vincent Mustangs in a non-league game.
JV action kicks off at noon.
