Torres still hungry for more after win

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

Matilda Torres’ Joseph Bass breaks free for a touchdown run during Friday’s 28-14 victory over North in the Div. IV quarterfinals.

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The Matilda Torres Toros football team didn’t spend much time celebrating after defeating North High School-Bakersfield, 28-14 in the Div. IV quarterfinals.

Instead, the Toros gathered in front of head coach Joseph Marquez immediately after the game and listened attentively as he spoke about what they need to clean up before the next game.

“We have to fix the mistakes we made tonight,” Marquez said. “We did not play a clean game by any means. We need to execute a lot better than we did.”

With the win Friday, the Toros advanced in the semifinals and will host No. 8 seed Shafter after they upset top seed Liberty.

The Toros jumped out to a 7-0 lead in Friday’s quarterfinal and overcame some errors to close out the game with a victory. After adding a rushing touchdown early in the second quarter, the Toros expanded the lead to 13-0.

The home team had another golden chance to expand the gap later in the quarter when quarterback Jose Soriano targeted receiver Jesus Moreno, who got behind the defense and found himself wide open, but dropped the ball.

After the Toros came up empty on their drive, the Stars responded with a 43-yard touchdown run from Dillon Kyle. The teams then went into the break with the score 13-7.

The Stars appeared to have another long touchdown run early in the third quarter. But the score was negated by a penalty. The Stars’ drive ended when the Toros’ Michael Moore recovered a fumble inside the 10-yard line.

Matilda Torres had another opportunity to score with a long heave on their next drive, but the pass was just out of the reach of Angel Pereida.

The Stars lined up for a field goal on their next drive. But the play ended with a bad snap that resulted in a turnover on downs.

The Toros’ next score came early in the fourth quarter when Joseph Bass broke free for a 30-yard touchdown run. After a two-point conversion, Matilda Torres held a 21-7 lead.

The home crowd erupted again a few minutes later when Pereida came up with an interception to spoil the Stars’ drive.

Pereida continued to spark his team when he pulled off a 35-yard run to set up the Toros inside the 10-yard line. Bass capped the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run.

The Stars managed to tack on one more touchdown run with three minutes left, but ran out of chances after failing to recover an onside kick.