BWP: Chargers Win CIF Opener

Blake Parrish scored twice in Thursday’s CIF opener for Dos Pueblos tying Ayala’s Josh Garcia for 10th all-time in the Southern Section’s all-time single-season scoring record. The Chargers defeated visiting Villa Park 11-4 in the process to advance into the CIF Division-1 quarterfinals.

“It’s definitely a great honor,” Blake Parrish said after the game. “There’s a lot of great players who have come through CIF Southern Section…It’s surreal for me because there’s a lot of guys (in the top-10) that I’ve looked up to.”

Parrish’s 199th goal of the season was DP’s last, giving the Chargers an 11-4 lead with 3:15 remaining in the fourth quarter. Kelly Reynolds, Taylor Gustason, Dylan Elliott, and Jake Griffin added two goals each. Quinn Peacock scored once.

Dos Pueblos’ defense only allowed one goal in the second half to allow the Chargers to pull away. “We’re a run and gun team. We generate a lot of offense,” Parrish said. “The key for us is not how many goals we score but how many goals we prevent.”

That one Villa Park score came first on a terrific wrap-around shot by the Spartans’. Reynolds responded with two consecutive goals, one on an in-close lob over Villa Park goalie Sam Thompson after Thompson blocked Reynolds’ first attempt. “That’s a big shot and, really, it’s a deflating shot,” said Dos Pueblos head coach Chris Parrish. “It was kind of the icing where I think they realized, ‘ok, we really have no shot.”

Dos Pueblos didn’t allow another Villa Park goal, a stretch that covered the final 11 minutes of game time. “We knew that if we played good defense, offense would follow,” Reynolds said. “We tried to win every quarter and we were able to accomplish that. Overall it was a good team performance.”

Dos Pueblos led 7-3 at halftime. After finishing the first quarter holding a slim 3-2 lead, the Chargers scored the first three goals of the second period to go up 6-2. Gustason scored his first, followed by a penalty shot by Griffin, then Elliott scored on a 3-on-2 when the two defenders split to cover the wings leaving him wide open.

“I felt like we played really great,” said Dos Pueblos goalie Kyle Krutenat. “We had a solid defensive performance and we played well on offense so I was very happy.”

Chris Parrish echoed his players’ sentiments. “We played some solid defense. We didn’t give up many easy looks,” Parrish said. “Holding them to zero in the fourth quarter was the defense I really wanted to see right there.”

The quarterfinals are Saturday. Dos Pueblos will travel for a morning match to third-seeded Los Osos, which defeated Palos Verdes 12-11 on Thursday.

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